Sin High
by Cat-and-Kit
Summary: ENVY x ED . Ed is a new student at West Rain High school. Being the only 15 year old in grade twelve, he is already gaining way more attention than he'd like. And when we add a very interested Envy to the mixture... ::Now rated M for later chapters::
1. Look up to your Peers

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up. (Make that twice..)**

Hey Minna!

(clears throat) Alright! I'm starting my first of many FMA fics, and though I have no plotline yet, I have enough EnvyXEd fluffy goodness to stuff a chair and stall until I **do** have one!

**Seira**: Go Procrastination!  
**Cat:** Alright, as I do for all my fics, I intro some of my muses. They just generally help me talk to you guys in an interesting way, and add comedy relief! This fic will be done with Kage and Kit, as all you readers of my other fics will know (now dead and deleted (wipes tear)), and then Phoenix and Seira, who are both new muses and never have mused on a ficcie before!  
**Kit:** "Mused on a ficcie before". I have never heard that one before.  
**Cat:** ... Shutup, I makez me own Engleesh...  
**Kage**: Moving on...

**Warnings: Language, Adult content, YAOI (guyXguy) for those of you too dense to get it from the summery, general teen crap, and some tiny SPOILERS. Don't know where, but they're probably there.**

**Kit:** Warning, Bad Grammar Ahead.  
**Cat:** Shove it, I know perfect Engleesh...

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 1 – Look up to your Peers.

* * *

Yes! Room 301! 

Edward Elric walked up to the dammed door with the number he'd been searching for for the last twenty minutes.

This was the well-known West Rain High School of Central Tokyo.

Having just moved here, he'd applied for the enormous school (as well as a few others), but West Rain was his first choice. Being such a busy school though (and popular apparently), he'd been **"Put on the list".** Just barely too. He'd been very disappointed in not being able to go the specialized high school, the place had one of the widest ranges of high school courses to take in the world! Not to mention it was HUGE. Over three-thousand students and four floors.

You can imagine when after an abrupt cancellation allowed him to apply; he was a little more than thrilled. It was already two weeks into the semester, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

He was Edward Elric after all.

Home schooled right through kindergarten, and a genius to boot. In grade four, he was skipped to grade five. In grade seven, he was skipped to grade eight. In grade ten, he was skipped to grade eleven.

Now, at age fifteen, he was a grade twelve at a huge school in a city he'd just moved to.

Joy.

* * *

"Okay, no pressure. I'm sure everyone gets lost. This school is huge! It's okay." 

Ed looked at the little bronze plate that declared the door as classroom 301. The tirade to get to said door was a furious one and with great gusto, but once arriving to the door, all Ed's courage seemed to take a backseat and watch the fireworks.

"Just go in. They can't kill you for being late.." He murmured. Taking a few steps closer, he knocked on the door. The voice that was most likely the teacher speaking stopped and told a student to answer the door. A few seconds and the name "Jean!" was roared out. Another few seconds and a yell sounded. Finally, a noise like someone approaching the door was heard.

Jean Hugez opened the door to see a very short, blonde, intimidated-looking freshman-like teen there.

"What's up kid? You ruined my sleep..." The tall, very obvious football player grumbled. He looked a little disheveled and was rubbing a spot on his head that was all chalky. He'd just been whacked with a very well-aimed chalkboard eraser.

"I.. ah.. This is my first period class..." He trailed off, wanting to back up as the guy was just so _tall_...

Jean looked at the kid for a moment. And burst out laughing. Immediately, almost the entire class seemed to break out of the half-asleep trance it had just been in, and looked around to see what the commotion was. Ed felt his face brighten as many pairs of eyes scanned him, wondering what he could have possibly done or said to make their classmate laugh so hard (his was literally on the floor in his mirth).

Jean Havoc sighed and walked over to the doorway. He hadn't caught what the kid had said, so he decided to go ask himself. Roughly shoving the still laughing football player on the ground with his foot, he asked,

" 'Scuse him, can I help you with something?" He looked at the kid for a second, and quickly added with a mildly surprised expression, "Hold up... You're not Edward Elric, are you?"

Ed shifted on the spot and nodded slightly. Jean put a hand to his head and ruffled his own blond/brown hair in confusion.

"Wow. I was told you were going to be young but, wow..." The bewildered teacher turned and motioned for the blond to follow him. Ed tried to ignore the gasping teen on the ground when he yelled out, "How old are you? Twelve? Shit!" and resumed laughing.

The class was a sea of whispers and low voices until Jean called out, "Alright everyone, shut up for a minute while I introduce your new classmate." The room was silent for a moment until it basically followed Jean's (the student) example. Ed blushed furiously and pouted at the front of class.

Eventually, the class of laughing students died down and Jean finally got to speak. "Alright, you had your laughs, and I'm sure Edward here really appreciated it. Anyways, this is Edward Elric, he is your new classmate. Could you tell us a bit about yourself, Edward?" Jean usually liked to accept his transfer students with open arms, giving them the best impression possible. This blond was no exception, and to tell the truth, he was rather interested in a bit of information regarding the so-called prodigy.

Edward felt his blush more-so when he was given the full attention of pretty much everyone in the class. He summoned up as much courage as he could just to speak.

"Hello.. ah... my name is Edward Elric.. I just moved here this late summer... aah... I hope to get along with all of you and... have a great year here at West Rain..." He trailed off. A girl in the front row, Saya Akito, put her hand up quickly, and without waiting for a response asked, "Are you really seventeen? You look a lot younger." Ed looked away for a moment, embarrassed. In grade eleven, he'd also been two to three years younger than his peers, and he was mostly shunned and ignored. He hoped it wouldn't happen again.

"Actually.. I'm fifteen..." He murmured, and the whole class did a double-take.

"Fifteen!"

"What the hell?"

"You were skipped **two grades**?"

Havoc quieted the class down again, and Ed meekly corrected the girl who'd asked the "two grades" question (Saya).

"No, ah, I was skipped three grades. I started school at age 7."

The class started murmuring again and he swore he would burn up under the dozens of gazes on him.

"Well, thanks for sharing with us Edward, everyone, treat him with respect like anyone else, and welcome him to the class!" Havoc said, and many voices started up again.

"Hey cutie, you look good enough to eat.." Some girl in the middle of the class shouted, and she along with about five other girls started giggling. Ed felt like he could fry eggs on his face.

Havoc's room was already crowded, but he found one open spot. He would have rather not placed the poor boy in front of his most.. _Interesting_ student, but he didn't have much of a choice.

Havoc told Ed to sit down in the empty spot off to the left part of the room, which was right in front of a fast-asleep teen. The teen had long dark-green hair in spikes, and wore the strangest outfit Ed had ever seen. Ed was dressed in dark pants, a dark sleeveless, and a gray coat-like shirt. The sleeping teen wore three-quarter black leather pants and a hardcore tank-top that seemed to have a purple-ish sheen. Edward wondered how he could possibly get away with such an outfit with the clothing policy of the school in mind.

Sitting down uncomfortably (he was still being stared at), he tried to keep his gaze fixed on Havoc, who seemed to be a very nice guy, and was the biggest source of anything calming in the room (AN: Ironically enough). Havoc gave him a reassuring smile and proceeded to finish up whatever he had been saying. Ten minutes later of what seemed to be review (all of which Ed followed quite easily), Havoc announced that the test he'd told them about two days ago would be handed out and they'd get the next hour and five minutes to do it. Amongst many groans and shuffling to put everything away ("If I see anything other than a pencil on your desk, I'll smack you."), Havoc said loudly over the ruckus, "Someone wake up Envy!"

Another football player-like guy who sat to the right of Envy, Marcus Chi, reached over and knocked him in the arm, bearing a smile. Envy fell asleep in class all the time, it was a wonder how he'd passed most of his courses up until now. The teen woke up with a snort and smirked at the guy who'd knocked him.

"Did I fall asleep again? Aw, I might have missed something important..." He said, trailing off in his silkily sarcastic voice.

"Actually, you kinda did. Look." Marcus smirked, pointing to Ed, who was stalk-still. Envy blinked in surprise, and then morphed the look into a well-used smug grin. He got up off his chair and walked a step forward to lean on Ed's desk, while pretty much leaning on the small teen himself.

"You know you're short?" He said frankly. If Ed had been embarrassed to have a complete stranger so close to him, he wasn't anymore. Child-like anger that burst forth whenever someone poked fun at his height made itself evident.

"I'm not short! I'm just younger, so I look short!" He said, glaring up at the taller boy and shying away at the same time.

"Younger? How young can you be for a grade twelve?" Envy asked, a false-bewildered expression on his face.

"Can you believe this kid is fuckin' fifteen? He was skipped _three _grades." Marcus said, laughing.

"Edward? Could you come up here for a moment?" Havoc asked over the din. Who knew clearing off one's desk could be such a big deal?

Ed gave the older teen a wary look, and got up. Envy smirked and moved away, crossing his arms as Ed passed him.

When the blond got up to the front, Havoc took out a few folders and started rippling through them. "These are what we've been doing up until now. You don't have to take the test today, and if you need extra help, just come after school." He set down a small pile of papers on his desk.

"I.. don't mind taking the test. I was able to follow most of the stuff you were saying anyways." Ed said, taking the pile. Jean looked at him wide-eyed. "You sure? It's kinda complicated."

Ed nodded. Havoc shrugged and commented, "You're pretty brave. Alright, you can take it, but I can't give it to you again after you're caught up, ya know, to be fair and all.." Ed nodded.

Havoc patted Ed on the shoulder in a way of saying "good luck", and he walked back to his seat, putting the papers in a blue binder. Havoc passed out the test papers and instructed everyone to keep them face-down until he told them to do other-wise. Sitting down at his desk once he'd completed the task, he looked in Ed's direction. The teen thought that the teacher was glaring at him, but he realized that it was actually the male _behind_ him being fixed on.

"Put the headphones on, Envy." He said in a voice that suggested he'd had a lot of previous history with the student. A small ripple of giggles washed through the classroom, and Envy sighed loudly and over-dramatically as he pulled an MP3 player out of his pocket and set it on the desk. He hooked the headphones around his ears and appeared to flick on the power switch. Ed saw all this out of the corner of his eye and was very interested in why Envy was required to listen to an MP3 player. When Havoc told the class to flip their papers, Envy did so after seeing everyone else do the action.

1101000101Whee! Binary Dividers!1101010010100

The test was going smoothly, all thoughts of the teen behind him, his player, and Havoc patrolling the rows was gone. The questions from the paper filled Ed's head and he quite easily pulled an answer for most of them. Some were a bit challenging, he figured that they were topics studied so far, and he had to make 'scientific guesses' at how to answer them. Just as he was about to write the next answer to a longer question, he swore felt his braid being fiddled with. He turned slightly to see if his guess was right, and to his confusion, the teen behind him was concentrating on the test. He focused back on his own paper, waving it off as his imagination and being too absorbed by the more difficult questions. He missed the soft chuckle from Marcus.

Ed was completely consumed by the questions once again. After what seemed like a long time to him, he wondered in the middle of an electromagnetism word problem if he was taking longer than he should. He quickly passed it off, not wanting to lose focus. A few minutes later, he sighed quietly, happy that he was finished. Looking up, he saw that he was the only one.

Not knowing whether to hand the test in or leave it where it was, he flipped the paper upside down and waited uncomfortably for Havoc to come around. When he did wander down, after checking Envy's MP3 player to make sure it was still going, he spied Ed's face-down paper.

"Are you finished already?" He whispered, though in the perfectly quiet room, it was heard by most everyone. Envy noticed that Havoc had stopped, and looked up to see him looking at Ed with a bewildered expression. He took one earpiece out to listen.

"..Yeah. I didn't know whether to hand it in or wait though.." Ed murmured, noticing the attention from the class again. This class seemed to be a lot more interested in him than his previous high school class did. Oh well, it was better than being shunned. Hopefully.

"Waiting is fine. Here, I'll take that." Havoc said, and picked up the test. He glanced at the clock. The young teen had finished the test in half the time he'd given the class. 'Well, he wasn't skipped three times for nothing, I guess..' He thought to himself.

Ed had nothing more to do, and was feeling more and more uncomfortable. He normally wasn't so jittery, but being in an all-new atmosphere with an all-new class that contained students that were all two to three years older than you was a rather intimidating scene. So, he pulled out a scientific journal on the use of mechanics in history and decided to read until the test was over.

A few minutes into his book and he swore, swore on any mathematical equation that his braid was being played with. He made no motion for a few seconds, and then quickly turned his head a bit to see behind him. The grade twelve that was sitting behind him, Envy, was looking back at him, arm outstretched and fingering his braid. He knew it..

A few seconds after Ed had turned to see Envy, the older teen smirked at him and moved his hand to poke Ed in the forehead with his middle and index fingers. Ed just blinked, mouth open at the quirky gesture, and continued to stare at Envy after he'd gone back to the test. Ed finally turned around, eyes wide. This Envy guy was a strange one...

Lost in his thoughts, he once again missed Marcus chuckling at Envy's antics.

* * *

"Alright people, tests up front!" Havoc called at 9:55, and laughed as some people panicked and tried to get twenty more minutes of answers into the next twenty seconds. Once all the tests were gathered, he announced that everyone was free to do as they pleased for the last few minutes of class. 

Ed put his book away and stood up, ready to leave for his next class of bewildered peers. Envy walked past him slowly and made his way down the row of desks. Ed blurted his question out before he'd even really thought about it.

"Why were you playing with my hair?" Immediately, he regretted it. The taller teen stopped and turned to face him. Ed was a little put off to notice he was easily a head shorter than Envy. His eyes were pretty much at level with Envy's chest and shoulders.

"Why?" Envy purred, looking at Ed's golden eyes with some interest. "I don't know. It's unusual for a guy to have a braid like that. It's cute I guess. I like cute." He smirked and flicked the cowlick on top of Ed's head that he never seemed to be able to keep down. Envy grinned and walked down the row and stood with the gathered teens at the doorway, ready to be released to their next class. When the bell finally rang, and the students filed out, Ed took the moment to go up to Havoc and ask a question that had been bugging him.

"Havoc-sensei, I was just wondering, why does ah, Envy, have to listen to an MP3 player during a test?" Havoc laughed.

"Ah, you see, Envy is notorious for running a wide-scale 'cheating market' if you could call it that. He and most of the students in the class copy of one another and I've found it to be him running it. So, other teachers usually set him aside to do the test, but I just make him listen to his music, and it seems to keep everything cool. Two or three of his other teachers over the years have used my method, and it seems to work fine." He said cheerfully, obviously proud of his little accomplishment for a student. Ed nodded. "Oh. Okay. Umm... Could you tell me how to get to room 334?"

After gaining directions to his new class, he thanked his new teacher and went on his way to his next class.

* * *

Ed's glanced at his schedule for what seemed like the tenth time. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, going over everything that had happened. 

(8:30 to 10:00) Physics - Havoc - Room301  
(10:10 to 11:40) Medical-Physical Education - Tringham - Room334  
(11:45 to 1:00) Lunch Break  
(1:05 to 2:35) Science-Math - Marco - Room312  
(2:45 to 4:15) Advanced Mechanics - Curtis - Room405

Period two had been pretty simple. Tringhan, the teacher, has politely given him everything they'd done so far and, like Havoc, told him that he'd be more than happy to help him after school. Lunch had been uneventful; he'd merely bought some caf food (not too bad...) and eaten by himself at a lone table (reading all the while). Period three had been much the same as the second, but he'd noticed that Envy was in that class. The older teen didn't sit near him, and really didn't take much notice of him, but he _did_ wink at Ed before class ended. Ed had mulled over Envy for a while after that until came time for his last class. This was the only class he had that was taught by a woman, and damn, she knew machines. Ed noticed that she had a very spicy attitude, and definitely wanted to stay on her good side, but she seemed nice and was very supportive of Ed's special situation.

Finally, when the bell had gone, he'd left school and arrived home not too long later. He lived two quick blocks away from the school, so it was a very convenient trip for him.

And now as said, he sat on the couch. Looking at his schedule.

"Nii-san! How was school? Did you make any new friends?" Alphonse Elric, and Ed's younger brother asked cheerfully. He wheeled around the coffee table and parked in front of Ed, eyes alight.

Al had been in a wheelchair for as long as he could remember. He'd been born with weak legs, and was unable to walk in the least. Ed had decided years ago that he wanted to become a medical scientist and discover a way to create limbs that would become attached to a person, nerves and all, and allow them to move the limbs completely by will. He wanted to give his brother the ability to walk, to leave his wheelchair behind.

"School was... Exciting. The other students were really surprised that I was their classmate.. But no new news there. I didn't really make any friends, I kind of kept to myself.." Ed smiled, instantly cheering Al up. Al loved to see his brother happy, and was glad to see that Ed was smiling.

"How was school for you, Alu?" Ed asked. Al went to a school that was completely designed for children and teens in wheelchairs, as well as students with other handicapped conditions. They had been lucky to find one in this city. Whenever they moved to a city without one, Al either had to be home-schooled by a service, or had to go through all the complications of a regular school.

"Great! Not much new happened but we made all these cool-"

They were always moving from city to city. Every few years, their father, the only living relative they had left, would uproot them and move to a new city. The reason for this had something to do with his being a scientist, and the agency he worked with, and had to constantly move to do the studies and work that he was required to do. He could never tell his two sons what he was working on, but they were supportive of him and tried not to make a big fuss when the next move came up. They knew that Hohenheim's job was important, and he tried to keep as many ties with his sons as possible, even if he wasn't around often.

"That's great Alu. I'm glad you're happy at this scho-"

Ed was supportive of their father, but barely. Ed held many grudges against Hohenheim, and really disliked how he had to keep getting pulled from his home. He knew his father was aware of this, but he tried to put on a good face for when he found time to come home and spend a day or two with him and Al. This was because of Al. His brother thrived on happiness like a plant to water, and when his father was around, he was happy. Ed wouldn't dare tread on this, so he acted cheerful for Al's sake.

The lives of the Elrics were a little different now though. Hohenheim had told the brothers a while ago that they'd be living in Central Tokyo for a good few years, as was his new location time given months ago. He'd told the boys that since they'd be old enough to responsibly own their own house, he would allow them to keep the house they lived in now, and could stay in Central, instead of having to be constantly uprooted to travel with him if that's what they wanted. Al had obviously been against it, and wanted to stay with their father, but Ed was seriously considering the chance to have a permanent home. He decided that such a serious matter did not need to be thought about for a good while, and packed it in the back of his mind to mull over when the time was starting to arrive.

"Ne, ne, Nii-san! Father's coming home tonight! He called me a while ago!" Al said excitedly.

"Yeah? That's good." Ed smiled.

Al grinned and wheeled himself away with a big wave and a "See you Nii'san!". Probably to play games or organize something.

Ed looked at his schedule, and lay back against the couch.

He played with his braid until he fell asleep.

* * *

**Cat:** Wasn't that fun! Humor, Fluff, and brother-closeness all in the first chappie!  
**Phoenix:** It is a masterpiece.  
**Cat:** ... You know... You're creepy in the way that I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic or not..  
**Phoenix:** (soft smile)  
**Cat:** .. Maybe you're just generally creepy...  
**Kit:** (Reads chapter title) Are you poking fun at Ed's height?  
**Cat:** …Yes. Yes I am.  
**Seira:** Um... (looking at a note) Ed grade 1 7 Envy fail? WTF does that mean?  
**Cat:** Oh, notes for the readers. 

Ed, as you know, was home schooled through kindergarten, and was put in grade 1 at age 7, as opposed to age 6. So, that is the reason he is 15 at grade 12 with three skips as opposed to age 14. And about Envy, well, he's failed classes all over the place and is at high school for a fifth year to complete them all.

**Kage:** Out of time.  
**Cat:** Yup! Well, that's all for today, kiddies, hope to see you at the next chapter!

TBC  
R&R  
BAI!

(PS - Yes, I'm following the FMA name-style of first names first and last names last, along with lots of non-Japanese names. Bite me.)


	2. Treat Others how you want to be Treated

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

**Cat:** .. For.. The first time in my life.. I am.. Completely out of dialogue…  
**Kit:** Are you parodying a Tremors movie?  
**Cat:** You've seen the Tremors series?  
**Phoenix:** I'd like to ask how this is relevant..

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 2 – Treat Others how you want to be Treated

* * *

"E-Envy, wait..."

"Shhh.."

"I-I don't know if I can-"

"It's all right, you'll do fine..."

"O-okay..."

Envy ran his hands down Ed's hot torso, kissing down his jaw line expertly. Ed kept squirming under him, not used to the sensations; it was quite the turn on...

"Envy... ah..."

"You're doing fine, koi.."

Envy's wandering hands felt every inch of skin presented to him, while his lips eagerly followed. Electric pulses run down his spine as Ed fastened his strong hands on Envy's shoulders for security. Envy moved up and locked his lips with the younger teen, loving the noises he extracted with the gesture. Ed tried to give a little back by trailing his fingers along Envy's shoulder blades, the motion hidden behind the older teen's long hair.

"You see Edo, you know what you're doing..."

"I don't, I'm just a quick learner.."

"Lets see how much I can teach you then.."

Envy looked Ed straight in the eye with a special smile reserved only for him, and lazily trailed his hand down Ed's stomach until he reached the blonde's tight leather pa-

_**RRRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGG!**_

Envy shot right up in bed, at the same time automatically hitting the alarm on his radio-clock. He glanced around sleepily, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

Seeing no one, and quickly gaining familiarity of his own damn room, he stretched harshly, showing off his deceptively thin and wiry body to no one.

Then the images of his dream hit him full on.

"What the fuck..." He whispered, eyes wide. He'd dreamt of that new kid... intimately. He was a sexually-active person, he'd been laid plenty of times. But never, not once, had he ever dreamed of someone like that.. Especially not someone he'd only known for a few hours.

"Must have had some bad coffee last night..." He muttered. Not one to smoke or do drugs, he usually pounded sugar and caffeine into his system for the hell of it. Tasted good, anyways.

Brushing it off as a whack drink, he got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, buck-naked. Doing what every person does in the bathroom in the morning, he finished up about twenty minutes later, all the while not giving a second of mind-time on the subject of his dream, (which, by the way, he would remember quite clearly if he reflected on it.).

A black skort and tank-top later, he sat himself down to a full and nutritious breakfast of cold pizza. Chewing thoughtfully, **then** he mulled over the events of his unconscious mind.

'So... I'm subconsciously wanting to screw that new kid... Gotta admit, being on top of him was quite a nice feeling.. Wonder what it is about him... What was his name again?' Envy tapped himself on the head with his knuckle, trying to recall the name. He remembered it a few seconds later as "Edward", and then recalled himself calling the boy "Edo" in his dream.

"Sou... 'Edo', huh? Guess I'll see you today, chibi. Wonder what you'll say when I tell you about this..." Envy grinned. He loved messing with people…

* * *

"So when we look at the twenty-third figure here, it follows the chain reaction when-"

Envy felt like his brain was melting in his skull. He could practically feel the boredom drooling out of his ears. Havoc-sensei was drawling on about thermodynamics, which they were just touching upon today. They would be moving on to a simple experiment with heat and light next. But until then, they had to sit though one of Havoc's rare, but long-winded lectures (of which notes were to be taken, but damn if Envy so much as raised a pencil).

This rant needed a comedy intermission.

Envy leaned forward subtly and whispered, "Ne.. Guess what?"

Ed turned his head slightly to the side to show that he was listening, but without giving any indication to their sensei that he was not paying full attention.

"I had a dream about you last night." Envy whispered, grinning. Ed's eyes widened, but he made no more indication of surprise. What was that supposed to mean?

"I was on top."

The sound of a desk being forcibly pushed forward rang out in the classroom. Everyone's attention was quickly focused on poor Ed, who was staring at Envy, horror-stricken, from his desk that was pushed away from the source of his shock in a rush. Envy was grinning unabashed at the younger teen, and Marcus was trying very unsuccessfully to quell his laughter. Being right beside Envy in the all-but-one-person-silent room had allowed him to hear every word Envy said.

"Edward, is something wrong?" Havoc asked, quickly deducing that Envy had said something to shock the poor boy.

"Uh," Ed stammered, "Uh, I need to, use the washroom. Yeah, I need to go now. Sorry." He all but ran out of the room, face completely red. A few seconds after he'd left, the whole class exploded into laughter.

"Oh shit! Envy, dude what did you say!" Some guy near Envy laughed. Before he could reply though, Havoc was yelling at the class to calm them down. Once the ruckus was quieted mostly, he asked, rather angrily,

"Envy, I don't know what you said to him, but you're coming after school to let me in on the big joke, okay? Detention if you don't come." He snarled. He just knew sitting Ed there would cause a problem..

"I'll tell you what I said to him now, if it'll save us both the trouble. I told him I had a naughty dream about him, that's all. It was quite a hot one too.." He sneered. Plenty of people laughed heartily at the comment, and others grinned half-heartedly or not at all. Not everyone supported Envy's choice of sexuality you know. He was school-known for being Bi, and proud of it. (And no one messed with him about it since last year some guys had challenged him over it and he wiped the halls with them.)

Havoc was pissed, how dare Envy say such a thing to the new student! Whether or not it's true, he shouldn't say things like that just to get a reaction and disturb the class!

"Envy, get out, and tomorrow, you and Shuun are switching places." Havoc said, pointing to the door. Shuun, a smart-looking stereo-typical computer-geekish guy sank lower into his seat when some other seniors laughed at him for being switched with Envy. Shuun was on the other side of the room, but still in the middle of the class, where Havoc liked to keep an eye on Envy without looking like a coward.

Envy got up and went to walk out the door, but turned to the class and dipped low into bow, earning some sarcastic applause. He waltzed out the door with a final, "Go!" from his teacher, and merrily paced down the hall for some distraction to kill time until his next class.

* * *

"Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!" Ed snarled to himself in the bathroom mirror. He splashed more water onto his face. "It was just a joke! Why are you getting so worked up about it!"

"Actually, I think the question here would be, why are you talking to yourself?" Someone said as they left a stall. Ed turned around in surprise. He'd though he was alone in here..

A tall, blonde teen walked up to a sink and washed his hands. Ed pouted at being caught thinking out loud. "What was the joke?"

"Huh?" Ed turned, looking at the other teen.

"What was the joke?" He repeated. Ed flushed. "Uh.. It's kind of embarrassing.."

"Lay it on me, I'm a freshman here, so I'm getting my fair share of pranks." The teen said and he turned around and leaned on the sink.

"You're grade nine! Wow... You're so tall..." Ed said out loud, feeling a little jealous. The other teen shrugged. "So what happened?"

Ed pouted as he watched the ground. "Just, this guy in my physics class... He said.. something really.. strange. And I freaked out in front of the whole class. It was just a joke too." The tall blonde teen smirked, nodding.

"Ah. Must have been quite the comment. Is it so bad that you can't tell me?" He asked, amusement lacing his voice.

"He said he had a... an intimate dream about me... and he said it so.. confidently..." Ed muttered. The other guy chuckled, and Ed glared at him. "What's so funny?"

"Are we talking about Envy-sempai, by any chance?" He asked. Ed looked shocked. "You know him?" He asked.

"I've heard of him. He's kinda famous at the school. But.. You said this happened in class. Does this mean you have a class with him? I thought you were a freshman, like me."

Ed shook his head. "No, well, sort of. I've been skipped a few years in school, and I'm in grade twelve."

The other teen looked mildly surprised. "Really? Wow. That's impressive. How old are you?"

"15. I started school late though, so without the skips, I'd be in grade nine too."

The taller teen nodded. "So you're older than me." Ed thought on that and deduced that the other was 14, the regular grade nine age. He was again jealous of the height difference.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Edward. Edward Elric."

"Russell Tringham." Russell put his hand out, and they shook on their greeting.

"So. How do you like this school? Mr. Twelve-grader?"

"I just transferred here yesterday, so I haven't even begun to get used to it."

"Wow, that's harsh. At least I've gotten used to how things go around here."

Ed grinned good-naturedly. "Maybe you could show me around sometime."

"I don't know this place that well, but I could try a tour sometime." Russell said, grinning a bit.

"Okay."

* * *

After Russell and Ed had said their goodbyes, Ed returned to class, although he was just slightly hesitant to. Seeing that Envy wasn't there, he felt a little relieved. Upon his arrival, Havoc had told him that Envy was being moved and he should talk to a teacher if he felt he was being bullied. Blushing furiously at the direct advice from the teacher in front of the whole class, Ed sat down and ignored the rest of the students. He wasn't going to hear the end of this for a while...

A period and a bit later found Ed trying to find the lunchroom. He'd found it yesterday without much trouble, but mainly because he'd followed the crowd of students heading that way. His second period, Medical-Physical Education, the one right before lunch though, had been extended in his case because he had asked a few very trying questions and even the teacher had taken a while to answer them. This all happened after class, so about ten minutes of his (rather long) lunch break was shaved off. And as a result:

There was no one in the halls to follow to the caf.

So, Ed wandered around until he finally caved in and asked for directions. Thankfully, the girls he'd asked gave him the correct directions instead of phony ones and he made it within reasonable time. After gaining a platter of food, he went off to sit at a deserted table up against the wall near a window.

Thing is, when one eats food, and sits in the sun at lunch table that has benches instead of chairs and is right against the wall, ready to be leaned against, one tends to get sleepy. So, a little while before the lunch break was over, one could look over at the wall and see a short blond boy fast asleep, lying full-out on the bench.

That's how Envy found him.

"Hey look Envy, it's your boyfriend!" Marcus laughed, pointing to the unsuspecting chibi.

"Shut up, he's not my boyfriend. But he **is** perfectly venerable at the moment..." Envy said with an evil grin. He sauntered over to Ed forming a quick plan in his head. Oh, his little play-torturing of the new kid was so much fun..

Because of Envy's flashy appearance, a huge part of the cafeteria was already focusing on him. But his apparent target, another student, was gaining him more and more attention. When Envy got over to the sleeping teen, most of the students were watching him. Envy lightly nudged Ed's arm, and got no response.

At this point, everyone in the cafeteria had realized that Envy was going to pull some kind of amusing stunt, as he was famous for, and a stifling silence swept the room. Everyone wanted to see what fun would come from this.

Envy, very aware of his audience, grinned at random people, and set his plan into action. He snaked his arm around Ed's shoulders, and another around his head, and slowly lifted the top half of his small body up off the bench. His head had been resting against his bag, which leaned against the wall. Envy was careful not to knock this off.

The caf was deathly silent, everyone had somehow found a place to watch the spectacle. Some people were standing on tables, even.

Finding his hold on the smaller teen secure, and glad he was a semi-deep sleeper, Envy slowly slipped into the place Ed had been lying on. Many giggles were rippling through the crowd, as most of the onlookers were getting the general idea of the joke.

Obtaining the seat, and still not waking the teen in his arms, Envy used every bit of stealth and water-smooth movement he could muster to bring his legs up and ease them under the other teen's legs. Successfully getting on the bench, and keeping Ed on top of him, he shifted so that he was leaning up against the wall, at steeper angle than Ed had previously been in, so he wasn't leaning on Ed's bag. The entire caf and every person in it held their breath.

Envy lifted an arm and indicated to the crowd that the real fun would begin. Lowering his arm, he brushed some of the golden bangs out of his prey's face, and then laid his arm across Ed's waist. He then whispered to the younger teen.

"Ne... Edo... Wake up..."

Ed breathed in deep, arching back in a would-be stretch. He foggily remembered falling asleep in the caf, but why was it so quiet? Did he miss the bell?

Ed opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear the fuzzies from sleep. He quickly realized that **everyone** was staring at him, most grinning or suppressing chuckles. It took him a moment, but he finally noticed that he was being held. Held by pair of strong arms and resting on a warm, taunt body-

"Hey there Edo."

"WHAAAA!" Ed half-leapt half-fell in his haste to get off the older teen, causing him to hit the floor painfully. The room was in an uproar, many people bent over and clutching their sides. Ed had never felt so humiliated in his life.

"Oh my god, your face was priceless! You're hila-"

_**-SMACK-**_

The strike seemed to echo off the walls as the room fell silent.

Envy was shocked; he seemed to stare at the table wide-eyed, where his face had been redirected after the forceful hit. Ed grabbed his bag that Envy was leaning over, and turned around and stalked off, bee-lining for the door. Tears were inching down his beet-red face.

Envy gained back his senses a moment later as whispers and low voices took over the silence.

What the hell? WHAT THE HELL?

Envy couldn't believe it! HE, had just been slapped. He had NEVER been slapped! In all his history of pranks, jokes, relationships, and general attitude and living of life, he had never, ever been slapped. He's been hit, punched, beaten, you name it, but a slap had never graced his skin before.

It hurt. It hurt alot. But not just the blow. There was something more, a pain that erupted deep in his head that was not physical.

But it didn't matter now.

It didn't matter at all.

Getting up, face distorted in rage, people hurried away in fear.

**Envy Was On The Hunt.**

* * *

**Cat:** Oh my **GOD**! I'm gonna end up killing Edo at this rate!  
**Kit:** Holy shit... He's pissed...  
**Seira:** I can hear the chanting now...  
**Cat:** I even made this a cliffie.. My readers are gonna maul me...  
**Phoenix:** The smart ones will not. Such acts will delay your progress on this fic, will it not?  
**Kit:** Quit speaking smart..  
**Cat:** Oh My God! You're right! No one can touch me if it means the halting of the fic! Wh00t!  
**Seira:** What about the ones that 'aren't smart'?  
**Cat:** ... Shit...

Alright, so we've got a humiliated Edo, and a pissed off Envy. What's gonna come of this? Find out soon, and with each review, I work just a little faster! Stay tuned!

R&R!


	3. Settle Disputes with Words not Violence

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

**Cat:** Wow.. Cleaning up old ANs does wonders for the length…

K, just as a note for anyone who may not have gotten this for whatever reason…:

**ED DOES NOT HAVE AUTOMAIL IN THIS STORY. ALCHEMY IS NOT REAL. AL IS NOT A GIANT SUIT OF ARMOR. ENVY IS NOT A HOMUNCULUS. LOVE SLASH, IT COMMANDS YOU.**

Thank you, enjoy the chappie!

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 3 - Settle Disputes with Words not Violence

* * *

Rage.

Rage Rage Rage.

_**RAGE!**_

Envy stormed out of the lunchroom, slamming the doors open so they crashed into the walls. What few people that were in the halls turned to look at the tyrant of a teen and quickly made sure they were _elsewhere._ Envy grabbed the closest person to him (a little freshmen who hadn't gotten out of the way fast enough) and pulled them right up to his face.

"Where did the short blond go?" He snarled, effectively burning his enraged face into the poor kid's mind forever.

"Uh Uh Uh, I, Uh, don't know!" He stammered, eyes wide. He was practically wetting himself.

Envy threw the kid onto the ground in frustration and chose to go left. He tiraded down the halls and **no one **dared get close. Except for one poor sucker.

"Hey, Envy, you look pissed, what ha-"

SLAM

As Envy stormed by, he fore-armed the guy right into the lockers with enough force to make even a DBZ character flinch. Ooh boy...

"**CHIBI! COME THE FUCK OUT!"** He yelled, voice ragged. His voice was not made to yell as loud as it did, so the cracks in his tone made Envy ever the more angry. His teeth were bared in a feral snarl.

He continued to rampage down the hall, kicking things and people out of his way. Multiple lockers had dents in them thanks to Envy. He rounded yet another corner, searching for a hint of gold amongst his red-tinted vision. Finding nothing, he yelled out in frustration. A group of seniors at one end of the hall moved away in panic. Ignoring them, Envy sprinted down the hall to the stairs and charged up them, every step adding to his frustration. He'd obviously gone the wrong way at the lunchroom doors. Dammit!

Envy stalked in the direction of their first period classroom, on a hunch, and found that he was right, seeing at his target was fiddling with the lock on his locker, face streaked with tears.

Envy didn't hesitate a second upon seeing his prey, he raced down the hallway on long, steady legs. Ed barely had time to see his imminent doom before Envy crashed into the lockers, fists planted on either side of the shorter teen. Ed had turned around and was up close, face to face, and horribly terrified of the vengeful senior hovering over him, eyes wide in rage and teeth bared in fury.

"You don't mess with me, chibi." He rasped deeply. He grabbed Ed by the upper arm in his iron-like grip and pulled him to the door of their first period classroom not four feet away. Ed could barely move on his own, much less fight Envy off.

The Physics door was thrown open and Envy roared at the three Chess Club members that were there to get out. Complying easily in fear for their lives, Envy slammed the door closed.

"E-Envy, I-"

"Shut up!" Envy yelled, throwing Ed harshly at the door. He slammed hard into the wood, and felt the handle dig into his back. He cried out, but tried to break for it. Quickly running to the right, he barely missed Envy try to body slam him. Instead, the taller teen crashed into the wall, and the light switch, with resulted in the small black pegs to be flipped down. The lights went out, but didn't halt Envy.

Ed ran along the perimeter of the room, trying to keep away from Envy, he even tried to wind around the desks. Keep space between them and he could reason with the other guy, couldn't he?

"Envy! Can't we talk! This isn't going to solve anything!"

"It'll make me feel better!" Envy yelled back, and quickly got bored of running the maze of desks. He leapt up onto one of the small desks, and ran along them until he was close to Ed, who really couldn't maneuver himself out of the way due to Envy's easier field. Ed couldn't help it when Envy lifted him up by the collar while still standing on a desk, and when he was thrown over the row behind him right into the wall. He tried to get up and run, but Envy was right in front of him.

"Envy, Please!"

The teen grabbed him by the collar once again and shoved him up the wall, dangling him three feet too high. Ed choked, trying to find air, he grasped his captor's wrist and hand, trying to move the steel-like digits.

"You don't know your place, chibi. I'm going to have to teach you, no matter how many bones I'll have to break." He snarled. Ed was gasping for air; he could see spots dance in front of his eyes.

Envy reached back a fist to punch his victim in the gut, when said victim did something completely unexpected, and out of sheer desperation.

He kneed Envy right in the chest.

Envy dropped Ed and stumbled back, coughing. Quickly, before Ed had even gotten his footing though, he went and tried to blindly punch Ed while he was still on the floor. Ed leapt out of the way and got up, turning around just as Envy had recovered from the missed punch. He tried again to hit his target, but Ed kicked out, attempting to make Envy lose his footing so he could bolt.

Envy knew he was going to fall with the kick, he was fighting too close to get out of it. But he quickly saved himself from losing his prey by clamping on to Ed's jacket and using the full force of his fall to bring the chibi crashing down with him.

Ed cried out again when his head hit the floor harshly, but he knew he couldn't stop, Envy was already trying to pin him to the ground. Why was the other teen always a step ahead of him! Was he that good a fighter? Ed figured he wasn't already beaten to a pulp by now completely due to pure luck; he wasn't too great at fighting. Sure, he could fight, but not against someone so skilled. Rage was blinding Envy, and Ed was half-thankful for it.

Envy was forcing Ed down by pushing his shoulder down, but Ed turned sharply on his side, making the other lose his grip. Ed got up on his knees and got the luckiest break of his entire life.

Envy only had his back exposed for a second, but Ed took the chance and hooked his arms around Envy's from behind, effectively putting him in the safest position possible at the moment.

Envy yelled his frustration, but didn't give up for a second. They were still on the ground, and Envy took the opportunity to forcefully slide them both up against the wall where he started to hammer Ed into it. Ed had him by the arms, but he was behind Envy, so the taller boy was quite equipped to slam Ed into the wall as hard as he pleased.

Ed shut his eyes tight and tried to ignore the pain. He did what he could the slow the speed he was being pushed at, and tried to keep them both straight. If Envy managed to rock them to the side, he'd probably lose control and let go, and the teen sounded so wrathful that he may go further than beating Ed to a bloody pulp.

After a good two minutes of the harsh treatment, Ed swore he felt Envy slow down. He knew he would be bruised all over, and it was a miracle his ribs weren't broken. Envy finally came to a stop, breathing raggedly. Ed coughed off to the side, and felt blood drip down his chin.

After a moment of the two breathing heavily from the struggle, Envy murmured, "Endurance. I'll give you that." Then he coughed shallowly.

"I-hhm nevr go-nna, (cough) breahhth righht, ehver... againn..." Ed gasped, his speech jagged and labored. Envy narrowed his eyes for a second, believing he'd found an opening, and tried to jerk them off balance, but Ed countered it using his leg with reflexes he didn't know he had. Envy sighed, exhausted. He slumped against Ed fully, leaning his head against the chest behind him and pressing the chibi up against the wall.

"What are (gasp), you, do-ing?" Ed coughed, puzzled over the taller teen's sudden limpness.

"You're not letting me go, and I'm tired. So deal with it or unlock our arms." Envy murmured. Such a strange situation was new to him, and he didn't appreciate the ironic humor of it at all.

"... If I, let you, hh, go, will you stop try-ing, to (cough), beat me up?" Ed wheezed, wishing he could brush his sweaty bangs out of his face.

"No." Envy retorted simply. Ed heard the tired tone in Envy's voice, but more over, how he said it. His actions suggested that he wasn't in the right mood to be so angry; he'd calmed down.

Ed slowly, hesitantly, slid his arms away from Envy's and dropped them onto the cool floor. He didn't feel like he could move at all anymore. Envy turned his head slightly, shocked.

"You let go anyway?"

"I don't... think you'll.. hurt me, now.." Ed wished dearly he could get his breath back, his deep gasps were hurting his chest.

Envy got off of Ed wearily and turned around, taking hold of his collar.

"You think you can predict my actions?" He growled. Ed lowered his gaze and said nothing. Envy was taken back by this, and uncurled his fingers from the shorter teen's shirt. He rocked back and plopped on to the ground where he'd been squatting. Ed looked up, hoping he was correct in his thinking.

Ed stared at Envy as the taller boy took him in fully with his eyes. "I did quite the number on you. You look like shit."

"Thanks." Ed muttered, and slowly dragged an arm up to hold his side. Blood trickled down his chin, but he made no move to wipe it off. He couldn't.

"Why did you slap me?" Ed looked up at the sudden question.

"Why did you do what you did?" Ed countered weakly, struggling to not hitch his words. Envy turned his head to the side, looking at Ed out of the corner of his eyes.

"I mess with people. That's just me. You don't have to be so uncomfortable about it."

"You've been harassing me since we met yesterday. Of course I'm going to be uncomfortable."

Envy smirked. "Don't call it harassment; call it 'over-zealous affection'".

Ed snorted weakly. "I slapped you 'cause you surprised me, happy?"

"You looked angry, not surprised."

"Fine, I was angry too." Ed looked away, not being able to look at Envy anymore. Or to be more accurate, he didn't want Envy to look at him, his face. He was blushing.

Envy caught the red cheeks, and smirked. "You were embarrassed." Ed looked at him angrily.

"Of course I was! I woke up in the arms of another guy. A guy who is supposedly Bi, at that!" Ed immediately regretted his words, and quickly averted his eyes to stare at the wall near his head. Shit...

"... So you found out, huh? Not new news, I wondered what you'd think about it. You woke up and thought I was being too friendly, so you smacked me. _Did you think I was hitting on you_?" Envy leered, grinning as he nudged Ed with his foot. Ed said nothing and shirked away from Envy slightly, blush deepening.

"Chibi, I don't know you well enough to like you that way. Maybe in due time though."

"I'm not saying I want you to like me!" Ed yelled, or tried to. His lungs wouldn't allow much more than a raised voice.

"You're blushing, that's telling me _something_." Envy drawled, and fiddled with one of his long strands of hair.

"I'm not blushing 'cause I want to.." Ed muttered childishly. Envy chuckled, and got up, dusting himself off. He knelt down beside Ed and took the younger teen's arm and slung it over his shoulders. Ed protested as Envy put an arm around Ed's sore middle and stood up, bringing the chibi with him.

"W-what are you doing?" Ed stammered.

"You need to go to the nurses'. I might have broken something."

"A few minutes ago, you wanted to beat me up. Now you want to help me?" Ed muttered unbelievingly.

"I **did** beat you up. Now I feel better and the problem is more or less dealt with."

"... Whatever."

The two made their way to the infirmary slowly, and were the butt of many awed glances and whispers. Envy frequently yelled at people to shut up. After Ed had been settled with the nurse on a, "I tripped and fell down the stairs" excuse, Envy left, not feeling like continuing classes for the day. He didn't worry about getting in any shit for the damages he caused, 'cause practically no one was brave (or stupid) enough to rat on him. And if they did, he'd beat them within an inch of their life, pay the school for the damage, and it'd be over with.

He left school and thought no more about Ed, though the green-haired teen was all Ed could think about.

* * *

"-And Edo, you're going to work with Alex. Alex, help him out, this is his second day, and I had him glued to paperwork yesterday, so he's completely new to the on-hands stuff. Machi, you and Sui are-"

Edo nodded at his forth-period teacher, Ms. Curtis. She was a very nice, but extremely strict teacher, and she'd been helpful and sympathetic to Ed's grade-placement case, yesterday devoting her entire attention to him for the class as everyone else continued hands-on work in assembling a toaster-oven.

He'd met Alex briefly yesterday, and found out that he was a very interesting and fun guy. Ed quickly found him and Alex eagerly brought him over to the table where his specific toaster-oven was. Ed dropped his bag on the floor (retrieved on the way to fourth period from it's place at his locker when he'd dropped it) and sat down at the table.

Alex immediately dived into conversation. "Hey, I heard you and Envy had a fight! You look all beaten up, did you guys like fist-fight?" He asked, blue eyes sparkling, quite a contrast to his short orange hair.

"We didn't fist-fight, it was more like a squabble kinda thing. I don't really want to talk about it." Ed replied, averting his eyes and trying not to hold his side. The nurse had kept him through third period, and had done many tests. Finding nothing more than bruising and some strained muscles, she let him go with proper treatment. Ed felt better, but his ribs felt very sore.

"Squabble, huh? Well, most of the school's talking about it, ya know. Everyone says that you hit him or something in the lunchroom, and he went and beat you up."

Ed glared at him. "He started it. And he didn't beat me up. Not really.."

"You look busted to me."

"I just took more damage."

Alex chuckled. "I guess it's too late to tell you that Envy has a bad temper, huh?"

"Like a fucking volcano." Ed muttered darkly. Alex laughed long and hard at that one, eventually calling Izumi's wrath upon him, who threatened to kick him out of class if he didn't shut up.

"So, how you doing now then?" Alex asked as he flipped open his assembly book. He figured that the topic of the fight it's self may be a touchy one to pry into, but no hurt asking how the young teen was fairing after the fact.

"I'm fine. A few days and I'll look new." Ed answered, peering interestedly at Alex's book. The toaster-oven was half-done, but Ed was keen on finishing it with his new classmate.

An hour later found the class still working on their respective ovens (most people were paired, by the way), but Ed and Alex had long ago finished. The older teen had been amazed at the mechanical experience Ed had already, even though he'd never had other academic courses like this one (found out through questioning). Right now, the class was having a week-long session of building various small machines, mainly after a half-week of paper-work. The reason was so Izumi could gauge everyone's level, and try to even it out for when the **real** work began. There was only a few more days of small machine-building before the section was over.

But anyways, Ed and Alex had finished roughly half-an-hour after Ed paired with Alex, though they didn't catch a break. Instead of free time for finishing quickly, Izumi set them to the next project immediately. Ed was enthusiastic, but Alex claimed he only wanted to sleep, but didn't for the sake of conversation. The blond was quite fun for Alex to talk to.

After class had ended, Ed made his way to his locker at a decent rate despite his condition. Not to say he was on his deathbed or anything, but he kept being stopped and questioned about Envy and the rumored fight. People were also questioning him about why Envy had apparently helped him to the nurse's office too. The teen was getting quite fed up about the whole deal.

The walk home hadn't been eventful, though Ed hadn't exactly been expecting an entourage or anything. He reached the nice two-story home he, Al, and their father lived in, and let himself inside. Al questioned him about why he looked a little "banged-up", but Ed passed it off as him being clumsy so as not to worry his younger brother. He went upstairs to where his room was.

"Ah, this is going to hurt a bit.." Ed muttered, cringing as he slowly tried to take off his dark shirt. Pulling the semi-tight fabric off, he sighed in relief and threw it on the ground to be dealt with later. He treated the rest of his clothes and other things like his hair-tie in a similar fashion and, donning a towel, left the privacy of his room to cross the upstairs hall and enter the bathroom. Once secure in the little haven, he ran the water for a shower.

Turning the knobs, the shower exploded in a forceful rain. He tweaked the temperature until it was nice. Dropping his towel, Ed walked into the small shower stall and closed the curtain.

He sighed as the hot water ran over his sore muscles, and ran his fingers through his hair and over his scalp until his golden locks were as straight as if they'd never been in a braid. He loved the feeling of his hair down, but kept in a braided ponytail for the sake of looking a little more professional, without appearing as if he wanted to look overly mature. And short hair was out of the question, he'd never cut his hair short. It just wasn't like him.

Snorting at his thoughts, he hunted for the soap in the torrential spray. Al never put the soap back in the same spot twice, but then again, his showers were more difficult to endure. Really, it was thanks to their father's special chair and attached equipment that was made for the shower that allowed him to shower independently, as opposed to needing help like used to. (Though actually, now that he thought about it, Al wasn't the only one guilty of never putting the soap back in a fixed place..)

Spotting the little bar, he proceeded to wash himself down properly, and finish up with washing his hair. After he'd finished, he decided that he may leave his hair down for the night and for tomorrow, just for a change. He didn't know how much more change he could take, but letting his hair down for a day couldn't hurt, right? Finished with his golden mane, he turned off the shower and got out, wincing at the pain in his shoulders, but happy that it was feeling better than before.

Toweling off and sauntering back to his room, Ed didn't bother to change into anything, he just crashed on his bed, wearing nothing but his towel. He proceeded to finish up his Mechanics in History journal. And that's where we leave our favorite chibi, 'cause nothing very interesting happened for the rest of the night.

Can't say the same for tomorrow though...

* * *

**Cat:** YAY! It's done! Finally!  
**Seira:** You keep stopping and starting, that's a bad way to write, you know..  
**Cat:** I do know.. And I can't help it...  
**Kit:** You can too. You whip chapters off in a sitting or two sometimes. If you could just keep that spark, you'd find the story runs smoother.  
**Cat:** Thaaaaaannnkkkksss. I'll try that.  
**Phoenix:** .. I am surrounded by females.  
**Kit:** ...  
**Cat:** So you are...  
**Seira:** ... Interesting observation...  
**Phoenix:** (cocks head with a placid grin)  
**Cat:** (Removes Phoenix from the current AN) Ohh I'm gonna be in shit for that one...  
**Kit:** But in the meantime, you had a note.  
**Cat:** Yes I did! It isn't very important, but I want to put it none-the-less.

1. For those of you who didn't catch it, most people in my story, as well as myself, refer to people differently. I call Ed, "Ed", and Envy calls him "Edo". I call Al, "Al", and Ed calls him "Alu". Just saying this just in case the different references confuse anyone.

* * *

So yeah, hope you liked the chapter!

R&R!  
TBC  
Bai!

(PS... No.. Future chapters won't be so short..)


	4. Drive Safely

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

Last Intro-Chapter! (As I scream oh-so-subtly at the bottom..)

Enjoy the chappie, kiddies!

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 4 - Drive Safely

* * *

Envy cursed the light beaming happily through his window. Damn the sun for being so cheery. He couldn't even blame it on a "happy, gleeful morning sunshine" type of situation. It was after twelve in the afternoon. 

'Must have not heard my alarm..." Envy thought. Glancing at the clock-radio, he saw that wasn't the case. 'Must have not SET my alarm...'

Setting it half-heartedly, wondering how it got turned off, he rose from his bed like Death himself. Envy was never a morning person...

He did his ritual morning activities, and decided to go make himself something to eat, completely at his leisure since he wasn't about to show up for a half-day at school. Arriving to the kitchen, he snooped his cupboards for something to chow down on.

Nothing. Nothing he could call a meal anyways. "Meal" to Envy was defined as "scrap of cold, distasteful food" to most other people, so you can imagine his kitchen looked like it had been abandoned long ago. Damn.. He hated shopping...

Envy didn't really feel like going out, and that included the needed shopping trip. Naturally... He procrastinated.

* * *

A half-hour later found Envy joyously exclaim "HA!" when he found the tv remote. Not that he spent half an hour looking for the remote so he could watch tv, it was because he wanted the batteries. He wanted to play a **game**, and he knew for a fact that he'd run the batteries dry long ago. Now that he had the batteries, he had to go find the game... 

Another half-hour later and Envy was pissed off. He'd gotten his batteries, but he couldn't find the game. Cursing his messy house, he brushed the thoughts of his game off and decided to just watch tv. Glancing at the batteries in his hand, he face-faulted when he realized that he didn't remember where he'd put the remote after extracting the small power-cells.

He threw the batteries out the window and went to sleep.

* * *

Envy had woken up from his forced nap a while ago and decided to clean up his house a bit. He ended up only moderately prettying up two rooms somewhat, but he felt like doing the hated shopping trip now, at least. 

He left the house with a wad of bills in his pocket (which bulged obviously to any viewers, since Envy wore his dark skin-tight leather pants today) (AN: And there **are** viewers..).

He opened up the small garage to the side of the house and brought out one of his two motorcycles. Good thing he got all his money from his only (filthy rich) relative, and a lot at that, 'cause he constantly trashed his rides and continuously had to get new ones.

This particular motorcycle was a lightweight; fast, easy to maneuver, but not very durable. It was blindingly red and rose it's rider high off the ground. Envy really liked it.

He got on the vehicle and started it up, revving the engine loudly.

He was an infamous rider, lots of people knew just how reckless he was. He'd been bugged to enter contests before, but he rarely obliged. He liked his cycles, but he didn't obsess over them, and too many contests would get boring to him.

He pulled crazy stunts and plenty of which were illegal (due to **where **he pulled them..). He usually made sure that he couldn't get caught though, 'cause he didn't want his license revoked. That would make it difficult for him to drive. (Yeah, like Envy's gonna care much about whether or not he's **allowed** to drive..)

He considered his dangerous style of riding a way of getting back at his father. The man had been very good to him, and showed him how to ride while he was young (too young, the lessons were in private). His father had been a professional rider himself, not too reckless by motorcycle standards, but very good none-the-less. Tragically, a dangerous gamble had gotten him killed. Envy never forgave him for it and rode like a demon as if to show him that dangerous driving didn't have to kill him.

It didn't hurt that Envy loved the rush, too. (And making people dive out of his way frantically..)

* * *

Wild maneuvers and screaming kiddies later, Envy arrived to the smallish convenience store, and parked his motorcycle in front where it was easily watched. He locked it to the stand. He wasn't too worried about someone taking the vehicle, but he wasn't stupid enough to leave it unprotected. Not with **his **reputation. 

He stalked into the store and took hold of a shopping cart. It was a good thing that the store people knew him, and could watch over his groceries. Whenever he shopped, rare as it was, he needed around three trips to get it all home. Made him wish he had a car sometimes..

He paced around, grabbing anything that looked edible and threw it in the cart, not bothering to check prices or expiry dates. He shopped, but not well. Eh, if he got sick, less time at school.

When he'd looped all around the perimeter of the store, he went back to the front doors and prepared to finish up the second round, which would be in between the aisles. By then, he'd have a full cart and could pay for everything then leave this bore-house.

"Envy?" Envy turned around at the sound of his name, finding a certain blond chibi to be standing there with an empty shopping basket. He immediately noticed that Ed was wearing his hair down.

"Well well, if it isn't Edo-chan. You look different!" He grinned, and reached over to flick a lock of Ed's loose hair. Ed backed up just slightly, furrowing his brows at the other teen.

"No need to get defensive chibi, I'm just teasing." Envy commented smoothly.

"Don't call me short!"

"You **are** short."

"I'm only 15!"

"You're short even for 15."

"Arrgh!"

Envy laughed at the blonde's antics. Ed wanted to glare at him for the insult, but ended up looking like he was pouting. Envy decided right then and there that he loved the chibi's pout.

"Walk with me, this is boring." Envy said, and started to push his cart towards the breads section. Ed looked like he wanted to decline, but came along anyway. He was going to the breads section first, so...

"You didn't come to school." Envy waved off the declaration.

"Didn't feel like coming."

"Won't your parents be upset that you're skipping?"

"My parents are six feet under. My father kicked it in an accident on his motorcycle, and my mom followed him saying _"I can't live without him!_"" Envy sneered, saying the last part in a dramatized girlish voice.

"Oh. I'm sorry.." Ed murmured. "We're kinda similar I guess. My mother died when I was really young. My dad travels a lot, and brings us with him. So we move often and he's almost never at home."

Envy cocked his head to the side a bit, grabbing a random package of pasta without looking as he went by it. This kid was rather open. He didn't seem to mind that he was telling this information to Envy, even though they weren't exactly what you'd call, "friends". Same argument could be pointed at the taller teen, but that really wasn't the case, Envy just didn't really care who knew about his parents.

Ed stopped to get a few cans of soup, and dropped them into the basket he was holding. When he turned around again, he got a good look at Envy's cart.

"Wow, you're getting a lot of stuff. Are you having a party or something?" He was half-joking, but really wanted an answer. There was no end to the puzzles around the green-haired teen.

"Nope, this is all for me. I hate shopping. I load up when I get here so I don't have to come often."

"I see. But geeze, you must have 200 dollars worth of food there.." Ed said, awe-struck.

Envy noted the unspoken question. "If you're wondering whether I work or not, I don't. I get all my money from my grandmother. The rich hag practically sleeps on a bed of money. She doesn't like me much, but she isn't stingy."

Ed nodded. So that was it. He lived by himself, presumably since Envy announced that all the food was for him, and he got money to live on from his relative. He voiced his assumption and got an affirmative.

"That must be lonely.." Ed said quietly. He was thankful that he lived with his brother, he didn't think he'd be able to take living by himself. Envy watched Ed out of the corner of his eye. No one had ever said that to him before.

"I don't care. Don't worry about it chibi, 'Big Strong Envy' can take care of himself." He laughed when Ed pouted/glared at him for being belittled. This kid was too much fun..

When the two had gathered all the food they each required (interestingly, finishing at the same time), they each said their own version of goodbye (Ed actually saying it, and Envy with a mere, "ja."). They split up to each take their own registers. Ed's cashier made no comment, but Envy's face-faulted at the sheer amount of food.

Ed left the store long before Envy did, and with a significantly less reduced wallet so to speak.

* * *

Envy sighed contentedly at a job well done as he put the last item of food away. After his three trips from the store and back, he'd actually taken the time to put everything away, instead of just the things that could spoil. He had a habit of leaving cupboard items on the floor in their bags. It wasn't pure laziness, just that he really didn't care where everything was. If he could find it, then there's no problem, right? 

He grabbed a bag of chips off a counter and sat down at the small kitchen table, popping them open and grabbing one of the small snacks to chew it thoughtfully. He sprawled out on the chair, a rather uncomfortable position, but it went unnoticed.

He had been rather surprised that Ed hadn't been more upset at him. Sure, the blond didn't seem like he wanted to be too friendly, apparent since the smaller teen had kept his distance through the entire meeting at the store. But Envy rather had expected Ed to avoid him and refuse to speak to him after the whole fight thing. He guessed that the chibi was more "take things in a stride" than he'd thought.

'Either way', Envy mused, it didn't matter to him. He didn't care if some kid was going to be pissy at him for a fight or not. Though said fight had been nagging at his conscious for some time.

He hadn't made it apparent while talking with the chibi, but he was rather irked by his lack of control in the fight. He'd never underestimated someone to the point where he gave them an opening to catch him in an arm-lock.

'Interesting', Envy thought to himself. Ed must be underestimated all the time, being so young for his classes. But when you really came down to it, he really was a feisty little thing that could bite you in the ass if you weren't careful.

"Or maybe I'm giving him too much credit." Envy said out loud. Waving the subject off as boring, he got up and left his abandoned bag of chips on the table.

Envy decided that his rather controlled rides to and from the store weren't enough, so he went back outside and once again revved up his motorcycle. This time, he wasn't going to go anywhere specific, he was going to go for another of his crazy drive sprees. Wonder how many people he'd terrify today...

Not bothering with a helmet as always (though there was one strapped to the bike, just in case he saw the cops before they saw him..), but tying his hair back with a thick hair-tie that was looped around a handle-bar, he inched out of his garage and closed the door with a loud BANG, then roared out of the drive way (that little old lady passing by and her dog would be shaking for weeks..).

Now he was a sight to see. Just barely half-clothed and with an expression like a psycho on crack, he tore around corners and raced down the streets. Deciding that the backstreets were boring, he pulled a sharp turn and headed to the park that would lead him to some back trails, which in turn, would lead him to a motorcycle park that he and some other high school guys made years ago.

As he passed through the park, he met a certain chibi for the second time that day. He pulled right up beside the teen with much drama and noise, making plenty of people stare.

"Chibi! Want a thrill?" He didn't really know why he was offering some fun to the short kid, but he didn't think on it too much. He was too random to contemplate his own actions too much.

(We all notice that my portrayal of Envy is a little more fly-away and less angsty than his cannon counterpart... Works I guess. My Envy isn't missing a soul.. :3)

"You want me to ride? With you! No way! You'll kill me!" Ed yelled , throwing his arms out to prove his point. "And don't call me short!"

"Aww, you just don't like me. Is it because of that fight yesterday?" Envy drawled, fixing the chibi in a superior glance.

"It didn't help. I have to go. Go offer your ride to some other fool with a death wish."

"But you're the perfect fool! I bet you'd scream like a girl on this baby.." Envy trailed off, trying to strike a chord with a blow to the pride.

Ed scowled at both insults and while his ego was screaming at him to get on the bike, his rational mind (for once..) yanked over the reigns and made him keep his feet on the ground.

"You'll never know, will you?" Ed turned away from the scantily-clad older teen and walked forward along the park-path forcefully, though Envy caught the smirk on his face.

"We'll see, Chibi. We'll see." Envy vowed to himself, plastering his trademark sneer on his face. He roared forward and past the teen (scaring the shit out of him) and continued on his way to the MC park.

Many hours of psychotic driving ensued.

* * *

It's short. It sucks. I know. 

Sorry everyone, This is my **LAST INTRO CHAPTER **(indicated as there are no more "laws to live by"-type titles), and after I'd gotten the last of the 'information given for the intro' in text, I ran out of ideas to fill the chapter. All the fun stuff happens next...

Review please! Don't discourage me by leaving silence! You guys are the blood for this fic!

Whoo for blood!

...Where are my muses?

* * *

R&R! 

Happy New Year!

(Peace out at 2:24 am)


	5. Happy Birds

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

Yo! I love this editing stuff, my ANs are so much cleaner.. Oh yeah, notes:

1. Ed is a **WAY** less experienced fighter in this story than the anime. Huge. But that only gives me more a reason to have Envy teach him, ne:3  
2. A reviewer gave me a definition of "kawaii". I was laughing. Very hard. This needs no more explanation. To them however, thanks for reading and reviewing, but note that I am the **last** person you want to act J-E dictionary for.

Alright, and without further ado, on with the chappie! (Btw, my muses are not joining me this chappie. Seira and Kit went out, Kage doesn't want to since no one else is, and Phoenix is chilling out 'cause we had a fight about the CH3 incident, and I had to resort to Authoress Powers to pwn his omnipotent ass in a flash of irony.)

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 5 - Happy Birds

* * *

Ed was paying rapt attention to Havoc-sensei. He could focus all his attention on the lecture since he didn't have to worry about certain _distractions. _When he'd found out Envy was going to be moved two days ago, he was mainly relieved. Envy hadn't been there for the rest of the period, nor had he shown up for school yesterday, so today, Friday, was the first time Envy actually had to realize his punishment. Ed had glanced at him a while back, and saw that the teen was dead bored.

But now, the lecture was all he thought about. It wasn't terribly important to his goal, the will-powered substitute limbs, but he felt it was vital to something else important. His grades.

Call him a nerd, but he knew from his own experience that he'd kick back and not bother with virtually anything in the class unless he was sure it would play a significant role for his goal, or grades. If Havoc were to go over this lecture again later as a review, he'd completely ignore the teacher in favor of doing something else. He had a good memory, anyways.

Havoc wrapped up his lecture and handed out papers to the front person of each row. He smacked one of the guys at the front with their share of papers rolled up in a bat because they were fast asleep. When the class had been given their sheets, amidst groans, Havoc announced that they could have the rest of the period to themselves if they handed it in complete. The class was a bit happier.

Fifteen minutes later and Ed stood up awkwardly, walking over to Havoc's desk and handing in the paper. As expected, there was a hushed reaction from the class, but Ed paid it no mind (or at least look like he wasn't...). Little did most people know, one of the meaner boys in the class would have tripped him on his way back, but refrained from doing so seeing as Havoc was keeping a hawk's eye on him. By now, most of the class had figured Havoc was trying to help Ed as much as possible, and some disliked the extra attention.

Reaching his seat, Ed pulled out another scientific journal, but this one was an intro to biomechanics. Shuun peeked over his shoulder and glanced at the complicated diagrams and felt like he was going to go cross-eyed.

Some time later, half the class had finished and handed in as well, some less satisfactorily as others, and the room was a bit noisier. Not so much that it was bothersome, in fact, Ed rather liked the hum. He looked up from his journal however when a small paper ball thunked onto his desk.

Looking around but seeing no one looking his way, he took the note and opened it.

"_ur a cutie. we should talk some time.  
__  
three desks to your right and one up. my name  
__is Tia."_

Well. That was subtle. Ed located the desk and saw a girl looking back at him. She was very pretty, and wore a light outfit. She had long blonde hair and had a few piercings.

The girl indicated that he should write back, and Ed blushed. He always felt just a little flustered when the older girls in his classes paid attention to him, but this time, it was a senior, and the seniors just seemed so much OLDER than the juniors back at his last school's grade 11 class.

He hesitantly took up a pencil from it's neglected little corner of his desk and was set to write some kind of excuse. He didn't really want to get involved with someone who wasn't going to keep a serious relationship, not that he was thinking of having one of course, but he didn't want to be considered a lead-on. He went to write something, but then an evil little voice in the back of his head stopped him.

'Hey! This is a SENIOR, GIRL, who is PRETTY! Why don't you have some fun for once in your life! **Real** fun! Who cares about relationships! Get a name for yourself!"

He shoved the thought roughly and cursed his hormones, then went to write. He didn't want to flat-out refuse the girl, more like subtly get out of it. He hoped it didn't backfire on him...

He blushed as the group of girls all around the one who'd thrown him the note giggled and labeled him shy.

He balled the note up and threw it expertly when Havoc wasn't looking. It landed on the girl's desk neatly and the whole group of like, seven girls, giggled and whispered.

The girl opened the note and read it quickly.

"_ur a cutie. we should talk some time. _

three desks to your right and one up. my name  
_is Tia._

You'd probably find me to be kind of boring.  
I'd say two sentences and you'd be asleep."

Chatter and whispering drew a suspicious glance from Havoc, but he didn't pay much mind to the girls. Socializing wasn't a crime, and they didn't seem to be bothering anyone, so why step in and ruin the joke?

Ed took up the ball when it returned and smoothed it out, cheeks burning slightly because of the many pairs of interested female eyes on him.

"_ur a cutie. we should talk some time. _

three desks to your right and one up. my name  
_is Tia._

You'd probably find me to be kind of boring.  
I'd say two sentences and you'd be asleep.

_then dont say anything. we don't have to  
__talk, we can do something else.  
__have u ever made out with anyone?"_

Ed gasped and flushed full out at the suggestion. The action set the group of girls laughing, which in it's self caused the rest of the class to look in curiosity. Finally, Havoc told them to settle down, and Ed caught him looking straight at him, silently asking if the girls were laughing at him. Ed half-grinned reassuringly.

Ed was really disinclined to reply to the note, and was just as surprised as the girls when a paper ball thunked on Tia's desk. She looked around and spotted Envy smirking at her. She cocked her head to the side in confusion, and went to the note. A few seconds later she turned in his direction, anger written all over her face, and she threw him the middle finger.

She turned to Ed and blew him a kiss, and went to chatting with her friends about whatever insult Envy had thrown at her. Ed took this as a signal to end the note-conversation, and glanced at Envy, confusion on his face. Envy shrugged, a knowing smirk on his face however. Ed frowned at the lack of explanation, but passed it off as good fortune. He went back to his journal and was not interrupted for the rest of the class.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

* * *

His next two classes and lunch had gone along smoothly, Envy didn't so much as glance at him all during third. Now, he just got to his fourth period class, and he found out that they had to switch rooms for the next assignment.

"Alright, we're taking that old auto room that's beside the gym for today and most of next week. Leave your things here, we're coming back before the bell. Let's move!" Izumi called out, commanding her class to the door. Everyone filed out and trooped down the hall in the direction of the stairs. They were on the fourth floor, and had to get to the first. Yay.

When they finally reached the gymnasium (the only way to the auto room. It linked to the gym and the other door had been broken long ago. It was rarely used anymore, but Izumi employed it whenever she saw the convenience to), Izumi fought her way up front and yelled out to the class, "No bothering the class in there, right to the room, alright!" Half-hearted agreement and shuffling from the class.

Izumi opened the wide red door of the gym and went in, the students following her. The trip was along the perimeter of the gym, so as not to bother the other class too much. There _was_ commotion, as greetings were called out, and the dodgeball game (in favor of Friday) was somewhat compromised.

"Come on, ignore the other class, keep moving!" Roy yelled to his class, trying to keep a total blending of the classes from happening. (Ha, take that Roy! Gym teacher.. hehe.. I don't hate, I just mock for fun.)

Ed found that he was lagging a bit, and went to mesh in with the rest of his class, but froze in horror as a dodgeball roared by him and slammed into the wall not a few feet to the right of him. Had he taken one more step..

His temporary freeze-up seemed to cause a lot of laughter from the gym class, many high-fives and yells sounding. Ed tried to calm himself when a figure trotted up towards him.

Turning and seeing Envy run up in a gym uniform (light, covering most of his upper body, definitely not like him..), he glared as the taller teen laughed and said, "Ian almost got you! And there you go and freeze up, hell, you're such a kid." He bent over and picked up the ball.

"That was really mean.." Ed muttered, turning to go join his class. Envy got up and ruffled his golden hair.

"Learn to love it, Chibi."

Ed yelled at him for calling him short but Envy had already turned and was trotting back to his side of the gym, chuckling. Ed fumed and ran to catch up to his class. (Yes, he can run now. His injuries are more or less healed. He wasn't hurt much in the start, anyways.)

* * *

In the end, Tia and her group of friends (evil entourage more like...) had found Ed and cornered him at his locker when came time to leave.

"Come on, it's just a club! It'll be fun!"

"I'm underage, you know that!" Ed said frantically, seeing no escapes. His situation was laughable, really. (AN: (laughing))

The statement set many of the girls laughing, cries of 'cute' and 'adorable' ringing out.

Tia, always the clever one, assured the chibi. "You don't have to drink if you don't want to, just get water. It'll be so much fun, I bet you've never been in a club before. I went to clubs when I was younger than you, so I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Maa, I think he's too scared to go to a club. Edo-chibi (glare!) is afraid he'll get wasted! Or maybe he's too short! The bouncers will probably kick him right out!" Envy leered at Ed, easily seeing him since he was taller than the circle of girls around him.

Most of the girls had mixed feelings for Envy, including Tia, but it was all too obvious to them that Envy was probably better at pulling strings than they were. They didn't try to cut him out, instead, some of the girls moved so Ed could see Envy.

"I'm not short!"

"You're short enough. You won't get past the bouncer. Unless you're so short he doesn't see you!" Envy was right up against the lockers laughing at that, earning a heated glare his way.

Remember when Ed's rational side took control when Envy wanted him to ride on his motorcycle? That part of his mind that kept him safe and sound on the ground?

That part of his mind just got it's ass kicked by Ed's ego.

"Fine! I'll show you I'm not short enough to get into a club! Where is it and what time do we arrive at!" He growled, face distorted in anime-style chibi-fied anger.

"I'll pick you up." Complaints from the general female populous (but it was thanks to Envy that Ed was going in the first place, so..). "Be ready at ten."

By now, Ed's rational side should have kicked in and tried to get out of the whole deal, but the Ego of a Chibi Scorned was not something easily won over.

"Fine! 22 Hasawa Drive. Don't be late." He said in a mocking voice and left the group through the opening that was for Envy. The girls were all patting him and saying their approval, but Ed paid no mind. He walked in a huff the whole way home.

* * *

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

What had he been THINKING!

Al had already gone to sleep, always the one to enforce a good night's sleep, but Ed was sitting around, anxiously awaiting his ride. The rational side of him had kicked in, but hours too late. He'd never live it down if he refused Envy (and he figured that the teen would probably make him go willing or not.) and didn't go. He was nervous as hell, but decided that he'd use his smarts to the absolute best of his ability to get out the night okay and unharmed.

But that aside, let's check our chibi out.

Ed wore his usual glistening leather pants, and donned a long-sleeved, loose black silk shirt, bought by a girl for him last year. He had his hair back in a ponytail, but it wasn't braided. He deemed himself okay for a club.

Ed cringed as a loud scream of motionless rubber on moving ground echoed in the night. He stood still, listening for any indication of Al waking up. Hearing nothing, he got up from the living room couch and walked out the door.

Shit.

Ed had forgotten about the motorcycle.

There was Envy, also wearing black leather pants, but his shirt was a nearly see-through, loose, and blackish. It was apparently made of a very thin material, and swayed with the slightest wind. The sleeves were very wide, giving him an almost.. Elegant look. The abundant necklaces and chain-bracelets gave him away for a punk however. He wasn't wearing the black headband that he always wore tonight.

"Hey chibi, what are you waiting for! Come on!" Envy said enthusiastically. Ed hesitantly came over, and stopped when he got to the bike.

"Ne, chibi, (stop calling me that!) I knew you'd go long-sleeved. Here." Envy reached into a heavy-leather bag strapped to the vehicle. He pulled out one of his typical tank-tops. "Wear this, it'll look good."

"No."

"Come on!"

"NO."

"You've got stubbornness issues."

Envy shrugged and put the small piece of clothing away. He looked at Ed with a critical eye.

"You need a touch-up." He got off the bike and stood in front of a nervous Ed. The chibi was inclined to back up, but Envy didn't look like that would deter him.

"First, leave your hair down, it's nice like that." He commanded, and Ed glared at him.

"So? I want it in a ponytail. There's nothing wrong with it."

"It's better down. Take it out of the ponytail or I'll yank on it every chance I get." Ed sweat dropped, and decided arguing wasn't going to get him anywhere. He reached back and slid the tight tie off and looped it on his wrist.

"Next... Here." Envy took some of his bracelets off and a demonic-looking necklace and handed them to Ed. He stared at them flatly.

"We're already dressed similarly. If I take those people will think we're twins." He monotoned. Envy shrugged.

"You can be my hot little twin then. Put them on and let's roll." He said grinning. He could see Ed trying to figure out how the expression was pointing at them (was he calling Ed hot or himself hot? Both?), but he didn't care about what conclusions the smaller teen came up with.

Ed gave up and grudgingly took the bracelets and necklace. He put them on as Envy hopped up onto his motorcycle. Ed finished a few seconds later, but got anxious when he went to get on.

"Front or back, make your choice chibi." Envy didn't sound rushed in the least. The amusement in his voice was maddening.

"If I get on the back.. I'm not going to slide off, right?" He asked nervously.

"You've never been on a motorcycle, have you? Well, hold on tight, and you won't slip off." Envy said, shrugging. Ed looked at the sleek red machine with that wide-eyed perplexed look we all love. He decided, swallowing his pride would probably save his life right now.

He muttered, "Front.." and Envy chuckled. He got off the bike and waited as Ed climbed on like the newbie he was. Once Ed was on, albeit he didn't feel an inch secure, Envy jumped on and shifted until they were both comfortable and positioned correctly for driving. Ed was blushing like crazy and was thanking every star that Envy couldn't see.

"W-where do I hold?" He stammered, jolting as Envy revved up the machine.

"The middle of the handlebar, the seat, nothing at all, doesn't matter. You're not gonna fall off." Envy said with confidence. Without warning, he shot forward and earned a small yelp from his passenger. Ed quickly reached out and took a shaky hold on the roundish lump between the two handlebars that Envy was grasping. What had he gotten himself into! ("Wait a sec, we don't have helmets!" "What do we need those for?" Oh Envy, you're such a bad boy. :3)

* * *

_**"YOU'RE INSANE!"**_

Ed was terrified of Envy's driving skills. Dodging traffic, driving on dangerous angles, even going up a ramp Envy had placed for the pure purpose of scaring his passenger shitless, Ed was having his life flash before his eyes.

"Live a little, chibi! This is how you have **fun**!" Envy yelled back, turning a sharp corner and zipping along a side street. He wasn't heading directly to the club, he kept detouring. Ed's absolute horror was way too much fun. He was early, anyways, he had a few to spare.

"**I am never getting on a motorcycle again! Especially not with you!"** Ed yelled, wishing he could close his eyes. Whenever he did he felt like he was going to fall.

"Aww, I'm heartbroken. How are you going to get home, I wonder?" Envy inquired with an evil tone in his raised voice, just enough to be heard over the wind. Ed yelled again as Envy 180ed and rushed back up the street he'd just gone down. He knew that Ed had no idea he was detouring, the boy was hardly about to stay conscious it seemed. Too fun.

"**I'll take a taxi! Anything besides this again!"** He yelled back, feeling sick.

A few minutes later, Envy screeched to a halt in front of the club house, earning every pair of eyes within thirty meters. Ed crawled off of the bike without even waiting for Envy to dismount first, and dropped to the sidewalk on his hands and knees, trying to stop the urge to vomit. He heard lots of people chuckling at this, but didn't care in the least.

Immediately, the group of girls from school ran up and clustered around him, patting him on the back and trying to comfort him. Ed felt like he was going to be sick even more.

"Envy! You're so mean! Why would you drive like a madman with him! I knew it was a bad idea to let you pick him up!" Tia yelled at Envy, getting up in his face. Envy shrugged and waved her off. "He's fine. Let's go."

Ed got to his feet shakily once his stomach had settled, and instantly the girls cooed over how adorable and sexy he looked. Ed tried not to blush as multiple hands ran through his hair and down his arms. He pressed on wordlessly, hating every step closer to the building he was going to be in for the next few hours.

There was a tall male at the door, quickly checking over people and stopping some when they looked too young. Ed felt his palms get sweaty as he got close, and his heart leapt into his throat when the bouncer locked gazes with him.

"Hey, aren't you kinda short for 18?"

Snap.

**"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT MICE ARE TALLER AND POINT AND LAUGH, HUH!"** He roared at the guy. Wide-eyed and not feeling like another round with the blond (not to mention the horde of girls all around the short teen were angrily shouting at him), he waved his hand and let him through, the girls all sticking their noses up at him. Some big ol' mean bouncer he was..

"You got in! Take that, Envy!" One of the girls cheered. Envy looked unimpressed.

"I think anyone would have let him in after that. My ears are still ringing." He said, and stuck a pinky in his ear for emphasis. Ed glared.

"Either way, I'm in, are we all happy now?" He said, needing to raise his voice over the clamor and ruckus of the club.

"Totally! Let's go get our table. Come on!" Another girl cheered, leading the way through the crowds. Ed groaned and complied as he was nudged along. They all got to a large table at the back that already had a bunch of guys around it. The table was apparently pre-designated since the girls all seemed to know the guys. Everyone sat down, And Ed had girls on either side of him, and almost directly across the table from Envy.

"Yo, who's the kid?" One of the guys said in a deep voice, jerking a thumb at Ed.

"Yo! Edo! Dude, I didn't know you went to clubs!" Ed recognized the speaker as Marcus, the guy who sat diagonally one seat down from him in first period. He half-grinned.

"I don't, I kinda got suckered into this one." He said, and the girl sitting to his left glomped him, much to his embarrassment.

The next hour was filled with talk and questions, it wasn't boring, but Ed was rather dazed by the experience. He snapped out of it however when one of the guys called out, "Bottle Roulette!"

There was a wide-scale agreement around the table (and just so you know, it was a BIG table. It was round, and was sitting a near-perfect split of 13 guys and girls.)

"What's that?" Ed asked the girl to his left, who he'd found out was Sasrei.

"Bottle Roulette is like spin the bottle," Two of the guys got up to go get supplies. "We spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on has to either kiss the next person it lands on, or take the punishment for chickening." Ed's eyes went wide. What was this about!

"The punishment is either drinking a double shot of the strongest alcohol they got here in one gulp, or a spoonful of wasabi." The girl to his right finished. Ed suddenly felt very fidgety.

"No chance that I could stay out of this, by any chance?" He asked, grinning hopefully. Both girls beside him shook their heads and threw out reasons. He whimpered.

"Hey, come on, this game rocks! And you didn't even have to pay, we all put in five bucks to get the package for this game. You know, this club actually is the one that introduced the game, and the tenders put together all the stuff you need to play!" Marcus said to him, completely in good spirits.

"But.. But what happens when you have to.. kiss someone the same gender as you..." He quietly asked Sasrei. She giggled at him.

"Better hope you can swallow you pride, or else you'll have to be punished! And it's a kiss too, no pecks!" She giggled again, calling him cute for asking.

Ed wanted to leave, badly, but knew he'd probably get no where. He didn't have much time to contemplate though when the two guys who'd left a few minutes ago came back with a box labeled "BOTTLE ROULETTE". Some people around the table moved until everyone was sitting alternating between guy and girl.

"Okay, alcohol?" One of the guys called out, and most people grabbed the double shot glasses and passed the medium-sized bottle of alcohol around. "Wasabi" was called a minute later, and only Ed (hesitantly..), Envy (he's his own designated driver, remember?), and two other people (guy and girl) took a small spoonful of the green paste.

"Alright! Let's get this party started!" One guy cheered enthusiastically. There was a rock-paper-scissors duel between the two guys that got the box, and the loser threw his hands up over-dramatically exclaiming, "Fine! I am not loved! I will take the first spin! Tell my girlfriend I love her!"

He reached out and spun the reddish bottle hard and it wildly skided around the middle of the table. Finally, it halted and pointed to a girl a few seats down from Ed.

"Aww, I think I'll have to drink on this one.." He said teasingly, and laughter rippled around the table. He walked around and the two passionately kissed with most of the table cheering them on. Ed flushed, hoping that somehow the bottle would never pick him.

The bottle seemed to favor conventional pairings until one of the guys had to kiss another.

"Aww, shit."

"Aww, no way man! Chicken!"

Most of the girls were urging them on and most of the guys laughed at their misfortune. This was always the highlight of the game.

"I'm not eating this green shit, come on.." The guy looked like he really didn't like either choice, and looked distastefully at the wasabi. He'd learned his lesson the first time..

"Shit, you should have taken the alcohol then.." The second guy grumbled, as the first slowly goose-stepped over to him.

"Can't, I'm DD. If I'm wasted half these asses don't get home."

The two grudgingly locked lips, and virtually every female cheered, even some from other tables. They guys joked about how they were cheating on their girlfriends and such.

When the first guy was seated again ("Blah! Take some Tick-Tacks, Jordon!"), the second guy spun the bottle and picked a much better target, his own girlfriend.

So a few more spins later, Tia had just chickened on kissing Envy, and downed her glass of alcohol. For a second she seemed like she was going to be fine, but she was spluttering and coughing soon enough. More laughter, some rather drunken. She used one of the small towels provided in the box to wipe her mouth with, and pout-glared at people for her bruised ego.

Envy reached out and spun the bottle hard. It didn't go all over the place like most of the other times, but it spun solidly in one place. Someone whistled at the control.

In the most easily-predictable move of the entire story, the bottle slowly halted, nozzle pointing accusingly at Ed. The table was in an uproar.

"Hahaha, you're first match is Envy! Oh my god, too good!"

"No! Tch, sorry Edo-chan."

"Envy! Don't be a jerk! Chicken!"

Envy stood up and put his hands on the table, grinning fiercely. "No way I'm eating this stuff. No kiss is worse than this shit."

Ed quickly tried to save himself by asking, "Wait! Can't I chicken? I'll eat this!" Some of the guys commented proudly about guts or stupidity to prefer the wasabi over a kiss.

"Sorry Edo, you can only chicken if you're the one who spun." A girl, Chelsea, a few seats down told him.

With every sauntering step Envy took, Ed's heart thumped ever the harder. When the taller teen stopped in front of him, he motioned for Ed to stand up. Doing so with dread, he felt electric thrills go down his spine as Envy slipped an arm around his waist and looked deeply into his golden eyes.

"Ever been kissed before, chibi?"

"Don't call me short..."

"I guess that's a no..."

Envy pressed his lips to Ed's and the shorter teen was blown away. The taste, the feeling, it was new, and over-powering, he felt light-headed. He wasn't usually so sappy, but this was a bit of a new situation to him. He couldn't even think, much less respond.

Finally, Envy broke away for breath, and looked around to see many tables around them cheering and laughing. He looked back down at Ed with half-lidded eyes and a smirk. Ed looked completely shocked. He grinned wickedly.

"Hey Chibi… You're a bad kisser."

Shocked glare sent Envy's way as the entire table exploded in laughter. He moved out of Envy's arm and sat down in a huff. Envy chuckled and strode back to his seat.

"Aww! He's pouting! What a cutie!" Tia cooed from the other side of the table. Ed didn't look at anyone and tried to hide his blush as he reached over to spin the bottle. He sat back and jolted when Sasrei ran a hand through his hair.

The bottle landed on the guy named Jordan.

"Aw SHIT. Why me again? This bottle is gay, I swear. Chicken out, kid! I'm not gonna go pedophile like palm-tree here." He jerked a thumb at Envy, to which he got the middle finger.

"Alright.." Ed murmured. The whole table was silent and watched him.

"You know, you're the first person since Enry there to take the wasabi. He ran to the bathroom with tears in his eyes!" Marcus crowed, pointing at Enry. All he earned was a "Shut it, Evens." (BTW, names are random. If I'm actually using a real name here, it's coincidence.)

Ed didn't really know what wasabi tasted like, all he knew was that it was hot. How bad could it be?

Ed picked up his spoon with the thick green paste on it and stuck it into his mouth. Immediately, his eyes shot wide open and teared up. He dropped the spoon and covered his mouth with his hands, a tortured whine raising from his throat. Most of the guys were roaring with laughter, but the girls were a little kinder and one stood up to pour him a glass of water from the bottle in the box. (It's like a complete set for this game. Wasabi, alcohol, bottled water, spoons, double-shot glasses, a few small cheap towels, and the red-tinted bottle to spin. You return the spoons, glasses, box, and bottle when your done, though you don't really have to.)

The laughter slowly faded away as Ed drank down the water offered to him, tears streaming down his face. His tongue would be burning for quite some time...

So the game went on, and Ed only got picked once more, both his matches (When the bottle picked him, and when he spun and picked someone) were girls, fortunately for him, and it wasn't so unbearable. A few times, two girls got picked to kiss (much to the boys' delight..), and two gave quite a show just to get reactions out of everyone (Ed was blushing down to his heels).

The next few hours included talking, drinking, strip-poker (Fortunately Ed was good at this.), a game of Mao (very fun card game, hilarity ensued, see bottom for details), and a game of truth or dare (Ed had to stand on the table and yell out, "I'm short!" as well as offer up the facts that he was virgin and straight. Envy, who picked dare every time he was chosen, ended up kissing a random stranger twice, had to get up and pole-dance with one of the girls on stage, and had to take a spoonful of the wasabi from the Bottle Roulette game).

At three o'clock in the morning, Ed was tired, but he couldn't say he hadn't had fun. Eventually, he'd gotten more comfortable with the older teenagers and decided to just let go and party. Currently, everyone was dancing and having a great time, and Ed was quick-dancing with Tia, who was impressed at his skills. Ed used his loose silk shirt to it's fullest when spinning and side-stepping, it was quite a sight.

Envy decided that he'd had enough after an excruciatingly complex tango with a guy (from the way he was dressed, hardcore gay). The dance was so amazing and fit the song so well that people actually backed away and gave them a wide berth to stare in amazement at the spectacle. The guy was experienced in the dance and Envy was a quick-learner of the new style, and cheers and whistles sounded when they kissed for a finale.

Envy got around to Ed a few minutes later and asked if he wanted to leave. Ed was tired, and despite his horrific experience for the first ride, he agreed to leave. They informed the rest of their group they were going, and many goodbyes were given (and Ed got a bunch of kisses). Envy and one of the girls exchanged a long, hot kiss that had many people staring.

"Ah!" Ed sighed as he walked out the door, it was cool and fresh after the hot club house. He reveled in the open space and wished there were a breeze. Envy smirked at him from the bike, he was unlocking it from the stand but stopped to watch the chibi revel in the night air.

"So, clubs aren't evil now, right?" He said, grinning. Ed was lost in his daze of relief, happiness, and the general buzz of the night's excitement (He felt drunk, even though he hadn't had any alcohol).

"Not at all..." He laughed, and trotted down to join Envy. Feelings of hesitance poked at him when he neared the red monstrosity, but he waved them off. Getting on the motorcycle, his spine tingled as Envy slid on behind him.

The machine made a fearsome mechanical growl and they were off. Ed noticed that Envy was still going fast, but he wasn't making many dangerous moves. He must be tired. In the end, it gave Ed a great view of everything around him and he loved the rush of cool air against himself. The ride seemed to go a lot faster than the one to the club, and Ed voiced his opinion, ranting and yelling when Envy told him that he'd been detouring the first time.

But Ed couldn't stay mad, he felt too happy. He'd never done something so spontaneous before, it had been quite the adventure.

"Plan on coming to the club with us more often?" Envy asked over the wind.

"Probably not, once was good for me, thanks!" Ed said happily, all smiles. Envy shrugged. Ah well, it had been fun while it lasted.

He came to an uncharacteristically quiet stop in front of Ed's house.

"22 Hasawa, right? Yup. Here we go." Envy murmured as he picked out the numbers in the gloom. (AN: Like my names, the streets and numbers are random too. Hasawa isn't a word.)

Ed got off the bike and grinned. He gave a deep bow to Envy out of politeness and called out, "Sayonara", to which Envy replied, "Ja, ne." Shaking his head at the over-excited chibi, he slowly gained momentum until he was tearing down the street again, back to his house.

Ed had turned to watch him go, and spun back around when the green-haired teen was out of sight. He galloped up to the door and unlocked it with the hidden key behind the post box. He opened it silently, and tip-toed in like a kid getting away with the cookie jar.

He closed the door and shut it, flinching at the little 'snap' of the lock.

"Did you have fun?"

Ed spun around and through the gloom, saw Al sitting in his wheelchair beside the couch, wearing the fiercest glare Ed had ever seen on him.

* * *

OOOOOHHHH BUSTED!

Edo's in twuhble! Edo's in twuhble!

Shit's gonna fly next chappie. How was that though, ne? Stall chappie with plenty of fun in it. This chapter kept me glued to it all day, and I'm writing it. I think I worked on this for like, nine straight hours. Over six and a half thousand words. That's a lot. I need cookies... You guys stopped giving me cookies...

Two notes for you guys:

1. Mao is a card game that is similar to crazy 8s, but you keep adding new rules and things to it. Plus you can't talk without saying, "Point of Order" first. There's penalties, and you can't tell new players any rules except that it's like crazy 8s and that you can't tell them the rules. It's really fun.  
2. Ed and Al's house has that electric wheel-chair stairway. There is a wheelchair attached to the stairs and Al can get into it and it carries him up, and he unhooks it at the top and that's his "upstairs wheelchair." His usual wheelchair is left all abandoned and forgotten at the bottom of the stairs to the side where it's in no one's way. Whether the house already had it installed, or whether Hohenheim looked for a house with good foundations and installed it, it's up to you. I don't care, it's not important.

So, see you guys next chapter, I smell a fight! (Yay! I love the smell of Angst in the morning! ... 3:35 in the morning to be exact!)

R&R!  
Bai!

(PS: The Archs so far go like this:)

**First Arch **- Intro - _"Laws to live by".  
_**Second Arch **- Relationship building - _"Bird Titles."  
_**Third Arch** - ... You'll just have to **find out**, wont ya?


	6. Bird Bath

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

Notes For Readers:

1. All the stuff about the "Secret Topic Here" has been cut along with all the other edited stuff for this chappie, and condensed into this one note. I have a "Secret" for you guys, it's a gift, and it will become available in a not-too-later chappie.  
2. Ed is not as cold as he is in the anime, not yet anyway, and he's more emotional. I'm waving this off because Ed probably wouldn't be the same way in a normal life as he would in his anime life, 'cause in this fanfiction, he didn't resurrect his mom, have to fight for his life all his life, wasn't in the military, and didn't know alchemy, amongst lots of other shit. You can just go with me on that or pass it as my newbiness on his personality. I don't think I'm writing these two right, I haven't been "seeing" them when I write them.. I'm gonna angst over this a bit...

Alright, anyways, on with the chappie!

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 6 - Bird Bath

* * *

_He closed the door and shut it, flinching at the little 'snap' of the lock._

_"Did you have fun?"_

_Ed spun around and through the gloom, saw Al sitting in his wheelchair beside the couch, wearing the fiercest glare Ed had ever seen on him._

* * *

Ed gaped at his little brother, who was seated in his wheelchair as usual, but had his arms crossed stiffly. His eyes were dark with anger.

"A-A-Alu.. What are you doing up? It's late..." Ed tried, shuffling guiltily.

"You're right. It is late. Do you know what time it is?" Al said calmly, making for a very scary scene seeing as his face portrayed sheer wrath.

"Uhh... Not really.." Ed grinned nervously. Oh boy was he in trouble...

"It's after three. I wonder why you're walking through the door, Edward."

Ed felt himself jump at his own name. Al never called him by his name unless he was really, _really_mad. Which he could remember as being once before when he was seven.

"I... ano.. I went somewhere... With some friends..." Ed walked in nervously, hovering between the point of the front hall and the living room. Al followed his every move slowly with his eyes, not moving a muscle elsewhere.

Al uncrossed his arms and wheeled over in front of Ed, forcing the teen to recoil and go back into the hall.

"I heard the door close and a motorcycle leave at about ten. I was worried a bit later since I didn't hear you walking around, I knew you hadn't gone to bed yet." Ed flinched, he'd had a funny feeling Al had been woken up by that..

"I confirmed you weren't in the house. I had no way to contact you. I didn't even know where you went. And I've been up for the last five hours worrying about you!" Al said the last part forcefully, not yelling, but close.

"Alu, I can take care of myself, I'm not a baby.." Ed tried, but he wasn't feeling too brave at the moment. He wasn't a pushover, but his brother was not someone he wanted to upset. He knew Al was just being a good, caring brother.

"I know that, but you shouldn't be out at ridiculous times like that, especially without telling me! You have more sense than this! Where did you go, even? What were you doing that was so worthy of keeping it from me?" Now Al was starting to yell, he even slammed his fist down on the armrest of his chair.

Ed slouched against the wall and stared at his shoulder. He couldn't hold Al's glare any longer. He felt guilty and upset at making his brother so mad.

"I just went somewhere with some friends..."

**"Where."**

"... Just.. Somewhere..."

"Edo!" Al yelled, panicking inside because of his brother's hesitance. "Since when do you keep secrets from me?" He voiced angrily. Ed wasn't acting normal. What was interfering with his normally-calm and reasonable brother?

"... Alu.. I just went to a club with some friends. I'm fine, and I had a good time. I didn't mean to upset you though.." Ed tried, still not meeting Al's eyes. For a nice guy, his little brother had one hell of a glare...

"A club? A Club? You went to a club?" Al looked shocked, and he was practically leaning out of his seat. "Are you out of your mind? What if you'd been attacked? Robbed? What were you doing? Why would you even go in the first place!"

Ed shut his eyes tight and ground his forehead into the wall in frustration. He then pushed off in irritation and looked his brother full on.

"Alu, I know it's not like me, and I know I shouldn't have gone. It won't happen again. I'm fine in any case, so let's just put this behind us. I won't keep anything from you again, okay?" He said, trying to sound as sincere as he possibly could.

Al's expression seemed to soften just a slight bit, but Ed could see a different emotion in them, one rarely seen in the younger boy.

"Nii-san, how can I trust you? How do I know you won't do this again? Nii-san, I don't like this." He looked sad now, more than anything else. Ed felt a pang of loss knowing that his brother doubted him because of his actions.

Ed stepped forward and bent down to wrap his arms around the boy in the closest thing to a hug they could manage. Al immediately returned the affectionate gesture, trying to hold back his own tears of relief.

"I won't ever do something like this again, okay Alu? I'm sorry for worrying you. I'll do whatever I can to gain back your trust." He felt his brother nod slightly instead of speaking, but he knew Al was nearly crying, so he figured the younger blond didn't want to say something only to have his voice crack. He smiled.

"I'm lucky to have a brother like you who cares so much about me. I'm sorry." Al nodded again, and Ed slowly moved away.

The younger teen wiped his face free of wetness, and pulled his arms back to smoothly wheel his chair around and move forward, allowing Ed a safe passage out of the doorway.

"Who made you go, anyways?" Al asked quietly, no anger left in his voice.

Ed shrugged even though his brother couldn't see it, and answered, "A new, uh, friend from school." He walked by Al's wheelchair but stopped as Al whipped his hand out and caught one of the chain bracelets on his wrist with almost scary precision. He raised an eyebrow at Ed.

"... Same friend." Ed grinned guiltily. Al sighed and shook his head. He didn't want to go on with the topic anymore, he was very tired, and the matter was more of less solved in his mind. His brother had said he wouldn't do something like this again, so Al would believe him. Now, all he wanted to do was go to sleep.

Ed slowly followed his brother up the stairs, taking the steps with long intervals between because of the slow speed of the chair-elevator-contraption Al had to use. He didn't mind though. A fight with lasting damage between them had been averted, and hopefully the whole ordeal would be dropped and never thought of again. He rolled his eyes at his own wishful thoughts.

A half-hour later found Al fast asleep on his comfy bed under the warm thin blankets, and Ed staring up at his ceiling unseeingly on top of his sheets.

He lifted an arm and stopped it in his field of view, focusing on the only reminder of his where-a-bouts from the night. The small metal links glittered in the moonlight strewn over his room through the open window.

'If I'm going to survive here, I'm going to have to toughen up and not give into other people so easily. All these sempai (upperclassmen) are on such a different level from the students of my last school..'

He lowered his arm and rested the cool metal against his forehead. Even though he'd been out of the hot club for a while now, he was still appreciative of every little breeze, hence his window being open. The thought that the bracelet which rested against his skin was Envy's and therefore was previously pressed against _his_ skin invaded his mind for a brief second, but melted away as fogginess crept up in the teen's mind.

Without something to focus on, Ed once again stared off into space and found himself thinking about a few odd topics that subtly melted into other thoughts that eventually didn't make much sense. He knew this was a sure sign that he was falling asleep, and gave in to the darkness that embraced him until his mind showed him no more images, and spoke no more thoughts. He didn't have a single dream that night.

* * *

"Nii-san! You're wasting the day!" Al sing-songed up the stairs. It was Saturday afternoon, and Al was cleaning the house. A rather interesting hobby, but Al was very concerned about the looks of their living quarters. Many of the instruments Al used to achieve his feats looked rather off-normal or down-right sci-fi. Their father had realized Al's rather keen spark to closely monitor the house and to keep it clean, and had nurtured and encouraged it. He built and modified many regular house-hold cleaning items so that Al could clean, organize, and do most whatever he pleased around the house whenever he wanted to.

Their vacuum was remote-controlled. (AN: No **fucking** fair. (pouts))

Al laughed when Ed half-yelled, half-moaned from his room in response to his "wasting the day" comment, but he couldn't make out the words for the life of him. Heck, Ed probably had no clue what he'd just said.

Al was as bright and chipper as usual, he'd woken up very late for his standards, but not late enough that he hadn't already showered, eaten, set aside half the meal so his brother could eat when he got up, and cleaned up three rooms of the first floor of the house. (Though it's not so much "cleaning" as it is "touching up", since Al never let anything get messy in the first place..)

He heard, to his amusement, his brother stumbling about clumsily upstairs, and giggled at the lack of coordination is brother had when he first woke up. The thought that Ed may have been suffering from more than sleepiness didn't occur to him, because despite his brother's out-of-character actions of the night before, he would never believe his brother would drink or do any kind of drug. No, his brother did silly things sometimes, but not stuff like that. He happily continued to organize some things in the dining room as the unmistakable, but far-off sound of a shower starting up sounded from somewhere upstairs.

Al was puzzled to say the least when the door was knocked on. He wasn't expecting anyone; he wondered who it would be.

He wheeled over to the door in a few seconds, not that he was hurrying, his chair was just naturally quick and graceful. He reached out and turned the knob, pushing the door open and wheeling back slightly, to see who it was.

The younger teen was taken aback when a tallish, scarcely-clad guy with long green hair stood in the doorway. He had his arms crossed loosely and wore a large grin on his face like a new pair of expensive jeans.

Speaking of jeans, Envy was wearing black silky shorts and his usual tank top. Al took in the appearance of the teen quickly, and wasn't too sure about him at all.

"Can I help you?" He asked politely, never forgetting his manners.

"Yo, you must be Edo's brother, ne? Is he here?" Envy asked, cocking his head to the side. Al was a little puzzled at how high the teen's voice was, despite his obviously being a guy, but then again, look at him. He was no alto himself you know.

"Um, yes he is. If you'd like to speak with him, you can come in, though you'd have to wait a few minutes. He's in the shower right now." Al said, backing up his chair to let the teen in. Envy obliged, and walked into the beautiful house, closing the door behind him. He whistled, noticing how clean the house was (quite the contrast to his own..), and how bright it was. Despite it being indoors, it was nearly as light as it was outside, it was quite a great job by the makers of the house, who'd obviously known all the right angles to catch sunlight.

Al felt a small bit of joy at the older teen's apparent approval of his effort, and decided that he wasn't as suspicious of him.

"So, are you a friend of Nii-san's from school?" Al asked, smiling brightly. Envy decided that the kid was rather cute in a chibi-ish respect, but far too cheerful.

"Something like that I guess." He heard the faint sound of a shower running from the upper level of the house, and grinned a mental grin. "I'll just go see him now, he won't mind." Envy lied, and proceeded up the stairs without waiting for a response. Al made as if to protest, but trusted that this character would be true to his words.

Envy made it to the top of the stairs and followed the sound of the shower which got louder with each step he took to the right side of the hall. He got to the door that was obviously the bathroom's door, and saw that it was closed mostly all the way, just the door against the frame. His evil mental grin became an evil very-much-visible grin.

Pushing the door open, he leaned against the doorway and called out, "Yo! Chibi!" He could see a very blurry silhouette of a person on the other side of a light curtain that blocked off the shower, and it just froze.

"Envy?" Ed asked nervously, and pulled back the curtain just enough so that his head was visible. His golden hair was plastered to his shoulder, since it no longer had the hot water to make it flow smoothly along his back as the water cascaded downwards.

Envy raised and hand in greeting and grinned widely at the predicament. Ed's eyes were wide and disbelieving.

"How did you get in here? _Why_ are you in here?" He asked, panicking a bit. He felt very trapped at the moment. Like being between a rock and a wet place.

Envy slipped a hand into his vest pocket and pulled out a small black object. Ed recognized it instantly, and glared, silently demanding an explanation.

"One of the guys snatched your wallet last night to see if you'd notice. They just forgot to give it back." Envy put the small item on the counter. "I've been up and bugging people all morning, so I thought I'd add you to the list. I've already snuck into Marcus' apartment and dumped water on him for being a lazy drunkard, but I think this just beat that a thousand times over."

He grinned even more so when a mere two steps forward after closing the bathroom door caused the blond to panic.

"Envy! Get out of here! Go away!" He said, trying to come up with some way to throw off the other teen.

Envy stopped when he stood in front of the shower and poked at him through the curtain saying slyly, "Ne Edo, how big are you? I hear that short people can really be surprising."

"Don't call me short!" Ed snarled hopelessly. The shower stall was only just big enough for Al to easily use in his wheelchair. Meaning that it wasn't a big shower. Ed didn't have many options, if he tried to push Envy or something, he'd probably end up falling. Angering Envy would prove to be stupid, seeing his disadvantage. Ed was glaring daggers at Envy from around the curtain, not daring to rip his eyes away and lose sight of the older teen's location.

"Aww, Chibi didn't get enough sleep last night? You sound cranky. You need a big hug!" He threw his arms out and wrapped them around the figure on the other side of the curtain, curtain and all.

"EN-VY!" Ed growled, and tried to wiggle out of the other teen's grip without falling. He'd lost sight of Envy, and he couldn't hear him since the showerhead was so loud.

"Envy, I thought you said you didn't know me well enough to flirt with!" Ed tried. A desperate gamble, but he'd try anything. He waited for Envy to let go of him and say he was reading too much into it, that he was just teasing, but he wasn't that lucky.

"Mmm... We hung out at a club, on top of knowing each other a week. I guess that's long enough." Ed glared at Envy's silhouette against the curtain, and decided it should not be allowed for one person to hold so muck cockiness in one's voice.

"Envy... I'm not gay!" He tried, and attempted to push the other away.

"And I'm not straight, so we've got a problem." He allowed himself to be pushed away, but quickly grabbed the end of the shower curtain and threw it back. Ed was surprised to say the least, but the taller teen didn't get to lay eyes on the blond because said blond clamped a wet hand over the top half of his face.

Envy was surprised at the move, and puzzled over the teen's actions as he felt warm water drip down his face. "You're way too shy, you know that." He sneered. He made as if to back up out of the shorter teen's grip, but Ed followed him out of the shower and grabbed a waiting towel. He walked behind the taller teen, hand still in place and dripping water onto Envy's shoulder, grumbling all the way. He then let go and wrapped the towel around his middle before Envy could turn.

When Envy did turn, he was greeted by an angry scowl.

"You happy now? What's your problem, I was just having a shower, I never did anything to you." Ed said angrily. He walked back over and turned off the spray, well aware that Envy was looking at every inch of available skin.

"No, but you're fun to anger." Envy grinned widely and dropped to lean against the wall. "You know, you're rather built. Why hide it under all those loose shirts and indoor jackets?" Envy asked curiously.

"I don't 'hide' anything." Ed turned and headed for the door. "I just don't wear tank tops like some people." He stormed out and smoldered as Envy followed him.

"What's wrong with my tank tops? You don't like them? Aw, don't knock 'em 'till you try them." He chuckled. When they had crossed the hall, Ed went into what must have been his room, and slammed the door immaturely.

"Ne Edo, I want to see what your room looks like." Getting no response, he added, "You're not a very welcoming host, you know that, Chibi?"

"Go away, that was really mean, Envy. Who let you in the house anyways, was it my brother? I'll have to talk to him.." Envy heard the string of sentences through the door, though muffled, and tried the knob. He was put off somewhat when it was obviously locked.

Envy waited only about a minute until Ed opened his door and walked out, glaring as he passed. His hair shimmered and glittered where the rays of sunlight from all different sources were shining on it. His sheenless black shirt and dark jeans didn't however.

"I'll be courteous enough to show you the door." He said lowly, throwing the taller teen an even glare. Envy decided that walking in on the chibi in the shower must be a touchy thing, and really seemed to strike a cord in the blond. He wondered when he'd have the opportunity to do it again.

Ed seemed to just remember something, as he perked up and headed back towards Envy, or more correctly, his room. He entered the room and Envy took the opportunity to peek in. Unlike the rest of the house, it was just a bit less than orderly.

Ed grabbed something off the top of his desk and left his room again, stopping to hold out his closed hand to Envy. Quirking his thin eyebrows, Envy held out his palm wordlessly and the shorter teen dropped the bracelets and necklace lent to him the night before. Envy shrugged and went to put them on as Ed already continued on to the stairs.

"I got in trouble for staying out so late, you know. Nothing like that is ever going to happen again." Ed said as he started down the stairs after making sure Envy was following him.

"In trouble? With who? Your dad?" Envy asked, amused. He would have said, "parents", but he remembered when Ed told him his mom had died when he was young, back when they met each other at the grocery store.

"No, my brother." Ed replied, reaching the bottom of the stairs and quickly heading for the door.

"You got in trouble with your _brother_ for staying out late?" Envy looked bewildered. The younger brother took care of the house, apparently got pissed at Ed for staying out, and welcomed the guests at the door. What was he supposed to be, surrogate mother?

Envy shrugged it off and walked through the front door that Ed was holding open.

"After that little stunt, you're not very welcomed here. I'd appreciate it if you didn't come to my house anymore." Ed said quietly, glaring up at Envy. Envy raised a hand to run his fingers over one of the long spikes and sent the chibi a shrug, expression rather uncaring. Al appeared from the dining room and voiced a concerned, "Nii-san?"

"Toughen up chibi." Envy flicked Ed's cowlick, which rose from the watery grave of his hair after some time out of the shower. All he earned was the door being shut rather loudly in his face.

'Ah well, I'll see him at school. Mou, that kid's a little too stubborn for his own good." Envy smirked to himself as he turned and headed for his bike. 'But I'm many leagues worse. I wonder how far I can push him until he realizes that...' Envy mounted his bike and pondered over the new game.

He revved his motor way too loudly in an obnoxious way to show his displeasure of being kicked out. Not expecting a response, he shot off down the street, loving the feeling of the wind tugging at his long spiked hair.

* * *

Yay! It's done!

**Kit:** This is really short..  
**Cat:** That's okay, I've started the little snowball that rolls down the hill to become a GIGANTIC BALL OF SNOWBALLY DOOM THAT ROLLS OVER THE LITTLE KIDDIES THAT SLED DOWN THE HILL INNOCENTLY AND UNEXPECTINGLY!  
**Kit:** ... Poetic indeed.  
**Cat:** Shut up...

TBC  
R&R  
BAI!

* * *

Next time on Sin High:

Chapter 7 - Holy Fuck I'm on Chapter Seven.

...Um...

Chapter 7 - How to Catch a Mocking Bird

With the weekend already over, and back to school, Ed is in for a real surprise when Envy starts to prove just how persistent he can be at showing the chibi who's the boss. How is he going to react when he realizes that the methods are public displays of affection? Is Envy seriously trying to flirt with him?

Find out, on the next episode of, Dragon Ba-

..Sin High.


	7. How to Catch a Mocking Bird

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

Rock on, readers!

**PH34R /NY L4CK 0F 4U7H0R N073Z! PH34R 7H3/N! MWUH4H4H4H4H4H4H4H4H4!**

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 7 - How to Catch a Mocking Bird

* * *

"Aww come on, it's like, five minutes after class should have started!" 

"Where the fuck is Havoc? That guy's in some deep shit if he isn't here in two seconds."

"Oh, and what are _you_ gonna do Manes? Beat him to death? Yeah right."

Ed was leaning up against his locker, watching his older classmates get more and more agitated as the minutes crawled by. Havoc-sensei was very late, and most of the class that had shown up for the day or hadn't already left out of agitation were starting to argue and fight amongst themselves.

Ed didn't see Envy anywhere, and was rather thankful that he'd apparently skipped. He wasn't in the mood for the green-haired teen right now. Especially not after Saturday's episode.

He'd been reflecting on what Envy had said to him, the full extent of his words only really hit him after he'd kicked the older male out of the house and talked to his brother about not letting him in anymore.

Ed had realized that Envy may actually try to make passes at him, and Ed was VERY unhappy with the possibility. Envy was no pushover, and Ed didn't know the teen well enough to confidently deal with him. If Envy was seriously going to try and create some kind of a relationship, wanted or not, Ed wasn't sure how hard the other would try. **HE** for one wasn't going to let it happen.

Most everyone turned when a voice called out from down the hall. They all saw a short brown-haired lady rushing towards their room waving frantically and calling out sorries, and the familiar image of Envy walking at a much more relaxed pace behind her. (Ed's heart sunk a little at that.)

The lady doubled-over and panted heavily when she reached the crowd of students. Some of the more perverted guys of the class were elbowing one another and snickering.

"Umm, miss, are you a supply?" One of the girls asked, leaning over and asking innocently. The lady righted herself up only to bow back down again to the students.

"My apologies everyone, please let me get you all settled before I explain everything!" She said eagerly, taking out her keys and fumbling with them until she stuck one in the door's lock. Most of the students were grumbling their displeasure and a few took off at the mere word of, "supply".

Said supply was short, with short brown hair, glasses, and wore a formal blue outfit. She didn't look too much older than the students however, she appeared to be in her mid twenties.

When she got the door open and let herself in, she was embarrassed by the mild insults thrown her way from indistinguishable sources.

On the other side of the flow of students however, a more interesting topic was happening. Ed had just received his first "attack" from Envy's side of the game.

Ed pushed his way through the throng of students, trying to get to his desk. A long, harsh shiver ripped up his spine however, when he clearly felt a hand slide up his arm languidly. Even through the material of his grey jacket-like shirt, he could feel the heat from the contact. He whipped his head around, trying to find the owner of the hand, which disappeared, though he knew very well who it had been.

Not finding his culprit, he glared at nothing in particular and grumbled when he reached his seat. He plopped down and set his book bag under the desk.

Someone tapped his hesitantly on the shoulder, and Ed turned around in his seat to see Shuun, the quiet teen who'd had to switch with Envy last week. The boy wore black pants and a white shirt, and his short black hair showed a small hint of being gelled back.

"Ano, I noticed that Envy-san was still bothering you. I've known him for a while now, and I believe that it's practically in his nature to tease people. If you act as uninteresting as you can and ignore him with all your strength, he'll probably get bored and leave you alone." The teen said quietly, and leaned back looking around to make sure no one saw him helping the 'new kid'. (When I picture Shuun, I see that emo-kid from Neon Genesis. Picture him if you want for Shuun. I'll be seeing NGE soon, the whole series and all the movies have been on my comp unwatched for like a week now. OOCness is irrelevant though, he's OC for all I care.)

Ed smiled gratefully, and said an equally quiet, "Thanks."

The movement and shuffling and general noise of the classroom was starting to subside, as students were starting to actually take their seats instead of chatting and taking their time. In the confusion, Envy appeared beside Shuun's desk, and told him flatly to, "Move it."

Ed turned around, seeing that Envy was right there, and glanced at Shuun with a worried expression. The older teen looked up as defiantly as he could at Envy, and said;

"Envy-san, please go to your own seat. The teacher will figure you out anyway, she has the seating plan." He knew he looked much braver than he felt, being such a timid student and all.

"No, **_I_** have the seating plan. So move your ass or I'll drop you like a bad habit." He sneered, waving a sheet of paper in the teen's face. Shuun sent an apologetic look at Ed, and mouthed, "With all your strength", at him. Envy didn't notice, he was too busy chuckling at the minor cheers around the area, since some people had heard what he'd stolen from the teacher and the news was being sent along the class grapevine.

Envy took his old seat and sunk down, crossing his legs and his arms as well. He looked like the perfect example of a predator on the hunt, if his wide smirk had anything to do with it. He was surprised however, when the chibi spared him not even a glance, and sat up grade-A student straight in his seat. Ignoring him.

His attention was momentarily diverted to the teacher, who was trying to get the class to listen. Surprisingly, the class _did_ quiet down, as most of the students who were familiar with Havoc knew that he couldn't possibly be away from illness. The guy came in no matter how sick he was, unless it was contagious.

"Ano, please listen, everyone! Your teacher, Havoc-sensei, was in a car accident over the weekend, and he will be excused from his teaching duties for a few weeks. His injuries are mild, but he has a risk of making them worse if he were to move around too much. I will be supplying for him during this time." She said, glad of the general quiet that was given to her as she relayed the news.

"You may call me Ms. L." She continued, "I will be following the same work schedule that Havoc-sensei was on, he was courteous enough to brief me on the classes, and their schedules. I-"

"Hey miss, can we call you by your first name?" One of the boys at the back interrupted. The new teacher sent him a disapproving look.

"Please do not shout out, I want you to raise your hand when you are speaking. And if you would like to call me by my first name, you must spell it out on the first try. My name is Scieszka." She smiled a small smile to herself as the class made it's own small reaction to the difficult name, and some laughter was directed at the student who had asked, since he clearly looked like he wouldn't even attempt it. The class had a bit more respect for the new teacher.

"Alright, I have a seating schedule and some notes for this class, please allow me to take a moment to match your names and your seats." She opened the desk drawer and searched for the seating plan that was supposed to be in there. Ripples of chuckles and giggles ran through the class as Envy threw an arm up and motioned it around like a Miss America waving, signalling to the class who was responsible for it to go missing. Scieszka couldn't see due to looking in the bottom drawer now.

Standing up, the new teacher glanced around the class and saw the many amused faces. She understood what must have gone on.

"Does anyone know where Havoc-sensei keeps his seating plan, please?" More chuckles and giggles. She sighed.

"Alright, never mind then. If there are problems, I guess I'll just move you. I'll be making a new seating plan soon then, so please do not move around. I'll be taking role-call now."

The class groaned, Havoc never needed to take role-call, since he knew pretty much every student in the class, and memorized the name-to-face of those he didn't. He was very sure to be familiar of his pupils.

Scieszka called out names and ticked off where there was no response. Most of the class was here, so there wasn't too many people to tick off as absent. After she was done, she looked around for her class notes that Havoc had given to her, and glanced over them quickly. She'd read all the class notes a few times, and had an excellent memory, but you never know what might jump out at you.

Seeing something important, she looked up at the class and asked, "Please tell me which one of you is Envy?" Laughter roared out and Envy stood up and took a deep bow. Scieszka was surprised at the teen's appearance, but didn't say anything about it.

"Thank you. Now, I'd like to start off the class with a simple assignment." She announced, 'So I can take the time to get my things in order and send around a seating plan paper..' She added to herself.

She passed out the "Emergency Time-Stallers" paper that Havoc had given her. There were about thirty different types, and Scieszka was amazed at his level of intellect of his students and how to handle them. Even though the class wasn't too thrilled, they worked on the assignment. Seeing as it was easy, though long, most of the students knew everything in Havoc's class was marked, so it was easy points to their grade.

Scieszka drew up a rough diagram of the classroom and gave it to Jean, the football-player right beside the door. Passing it around and writing your name to co-respond to the seat you were in was a quick, and easy task, so the paper went around the class rather smoothly. After the first five minutes of the assignment had passed by, and the sheet given, the class more or less silenced with the exception of the low whispers every once in a while.

Scieszka was glad that the class seemed so well-behaved. But just how much of this "Well-behaviour" was she not seeing?

* * *

'Ignore him. Ignore him. Ignorehim. Ignorehimignorehim. Ignorehimignorehimignorehim. **IgnorehimIgnorehimIgnorehimIgnorehimIgnorehimIgnorehimignorehimignorehimignorehimignorehimignorehim."**

The words forcefully repeated themselves in Ed's head. They were starting to lose their meaning as mere words and acted more like a chant from a long-lost language. It was the only thing keeping him from losing his mind. Or his cool.

It was half-way into the class, and Envy had been driving him to the brink of insanity. At first, he'd tried to just be generally annoying, poking him, tugging lightly at his braid, whispering things, etc.

But seeing that Ed was trying to fake a will of steel, he moved on to a more... interesting approach.

The poking became lazy trailing of fingers over his neck and back, the tugging turning into attention to the sensitive spots behind his ears. The whispers become low, spoken offers and mental images.

So Ed chanted.

..0..

Envy was having a riot with his new game. He figured that since the chibi was tense and completely unresponsive to his treatment, someone must have tipped him off that he got bored easily, and ignoring him might work.

Well, he hated being ignored.

Instead of getting pissed off and beating some sense into the chibi, Envy was amused and quite enjoying himself since Ed's attempt to ignore the green-haired teen was obviously not working. Envy knew this from the rock-hard tenseness he was feeling through the chibi's two shirts (muscle sleeveless and the grey coat-shirt), and the fact that he kept flinching and squirming ever so subtly.

It was quite fun.

Envy also realized that he was constantly on the chibi's mind, as well. He was taking even longer than the rest of the class to do his work (he was about two pages behind), and Envy swore at some point he heard the blond whisper, "-gnorehimignorehimign-" under his breath.

Even leaning forward gained him no where; Envy could lean forward too and rest his head on his hand casually, not thrown off in the least.

By now, many students had noticed the gestures, but no one said anything. Smart classmates. No one dared deprive Envy of his toy.

"How long 'till you crack, chibi? I can go all period..." He whispered, and lightly trailed a finger behind Ed's ear, earning a very slight shiver. He grinned. Besides that, there was no response. Ed seemed to think that any kind of comment or movement would only egg him on. Little did he know that the mere reaction to his touch that the blond was probably not even aware of did the job just fine.

"Remember what I said about flirting, back when I walked in on you on Saturday? I was joking then. But I'm starting to really like you. Maybe I really **will** make you mine." He whispered with a grin. No reaction. How disheartening..

Envy tugged off the small band holding Ed's braid together, and set his fingers to work. It wasn't long until his golden hair was spread out and full, free of it's tightly-wound restrictions. Envy heard a deep, angry sigh, a sure sign that Ed was pressing himself to make no indications that he cared at all about the attention. His pencil was clenched very tightly in his hand, Envy could see his knuckles going white.

"Fight back chibi, or are you liking this too much?" He whispered. He saw a small bit of relaxation claim the blond, and he cursed himself. The shorter teen must have caught on to the beginning of Envy's frustration. Yes, Envy had a short attention span, and even the blonde's attempts to ignore him were getting boring. And starting to tick him off. It was fun, yes, but he wanted more...

He slipped a few fingers over the skin just under Ed's jaw, feeling his way around and familiarizing himself with the area, going as far as to run a finger over warm, dry lips. He felt a curious need to go further, go down and feel that well-built upper-body he'd caught an eyeful of only two days ago..

But not much could be done now. No no, it was only his skillful surveying of the teacher that kept her from noticing his actions. Any attempt to feel more of his opponent in this game was not very possible. And to be honest, Envy didn't want Ed to be immobile during the game-play.

Sure, it was the point to match his will against Ed's, but the current situation was limited. He felt almost cheated against since he was so restricted in his moves. Like taking half the pieces away in chess.

Envy became more and more disheartened as Ed was now very aware of Envy's lack of enthusiasm anymore, and was almost perfectly ignoring him. He knew he was winning.

With an annoyed growl, Envy dropped his arm and slumped onto his desk, glaring at the blonde's back with tired eyes. Several chuckles and low murmurs of approval dotted the class, as some people realized the sign of forfeit. Ed felt himself grinning, and started to focus back on his work.

"You won this round, Edo-chibi, but we'll see how well you can ignore me when I have more options available..." Ed heard from behind him. He turned his head just slightly and whispered back, smugness laced throughout;

"Bring it on." (AN: Que mortal combat theme..)

Marcus chuckled and whispered, "Owned.." to Envy. The green-haired teen merely snorted and jabbed Ed in the back harshly with his thumb, making the blond jump. He didn't continue the assault however, and turned his head to lay it on his arms to sleep for the rest of the class. Screw the assignment.

Ed sighed a breath of relief. He'd have to thank Shuun later for the advice.

* * *

After the assignment time was up, everyone handed their papers up. Most of the people who'd been aware of Envy and Ed's 'game' (through the grapevine, and pretty much everyone had seen the pent up frustration on the teen's face), were rather disgruntled to see that the chibi had been stalled for almost half the class, and **still** managed to be finished on time. No one was surprised that Envy didn't do the work however. 

For the rest of the class, merely ten or so minutes after Envy gave up, Scieszka gave a lecture for them to copy down, and by the time she was finished, the class was over. Amidst the noise and movement of the class getting up and chatting, ready to move on to second period, Envy woke up and stretched like a cat. He too got up and joined the bustle, but was too fogged down by sleep to offer any usual commotion.

Just as the class was leaving, Ed caught Shuun's glance and grinned, mouthing, "Thanks!" The other boy nodded discreetly, and turned to head out the door.

* * *

"-and that's the stairway to the third floor." 

"Okay. How many are there?"

"Just two."

"Ah."

After an uninteresting 'Med/Phys-Ed.' class, Ed followed the general throng of students down to the lunch room, and ended up meeting Russell along the way. As he'd promised when they first met last week, he took Ed around the school for a tour. They each bought an easy lunch to deal with, so they were eating as they walked around.

"Okay, we're going to have to finish these up here. No food allowed past the second floor." Russell said, downing the last few bites of his burger. Ed nodded and finished his hotdog, throwing the trash out into the garbage bin on the stairs platform. They continued up the flight, Russell making comments and Ed listening intently. He wanted to memorize everything about the building.

When they reached the third floor, Russell made the turn around the hall that immediately rounded at the doors, leading down another hall. Ed followed, but quickly grabbed the taller teen and yanked him back around, back to the doors.

"Ite, what was that for?" Russell said, rubbing his arm.

Ed apologized and looked sheepish. "Sorry, I saw Envy at the other end of the hall. I really don't want to get near him right now."

Russell nodded his head in understanding, and asked Ed the reason as they went in the other direction, to another hall.

"-nd so he was bugging me all through first period. What a jerk, taku... Tch, I beat him though, he finally gave up after half-period. That showed him!" Ed grinned widely and walked with exaggerated smugness, proud of his little victory.

"Aren't you worried he's going to try and get back at you?" Russell asked, not quite sharing Ed's enthusiasm. Ed shrugged and calmed a bit.

"He did say something like a second round... Oh well. I'll worry about it when I get to it." He said, grinning again. Russell sweat dropped, realizing that his new friend was a little too egotistical for his own good.

­­­­

* * *

Third period, as usual, was boring. Even by Ed's standards. He finished the work, yes, but Science-Math was boring no matter which way you looked at it. Fortunately for Ed, Envy not only sits way across the room from him, but tends to sleep for most of the period. 

Ed caught himself glancing at the sleeping teen a few times, and beat himself up mentally for it each time. He passed it off as anxiety of the other male's next move. He was aware that Envy thought the whole ordeal was a game, he'd said so in first period, and the more Ed thought about it, the more he wanted to win.

Once, when Ed glanced over at Envy (and he could be discreet about it too, they were on opposite sides of the room, but in the same column), he jumped when Envy was looking back at him. A sneer met a glare, and Ed looked at him no more.

But that's enough of "Events from Sci-Math", let's move on to fourth period with Envy.

­

* * *

"Alright guys, break's over. What's the game?" Roy called out. 

Roy's classes were rather uniform. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday were as follows: Intensive warm up and exercises, then finally a ten minute break for the first half of the period, and then a game of some sort for the second half. Wednesday was all drills and exercises unless he had another type of program planned, and Friday was an all-period game. Being Monday, they'd done their first half, had their break, and now it was time to start up a game.

"Dodge ball!"

"No way, we did that last week!"

"Blind tag!"

"Yeah!"

"What are you, babies!"

"Roy, teach us more karate!"

Roy rounded on the student who called him by his first name and yelled at him for being disrespectful.

"Run a suicide around the gym, you've got one minute."

"Aww, come on, you're too-"

"RUN YOUR FUCKIN' SUICIDE!"

The student ran his fuckin' suicide.

The students all talked amongst themselves and eventually decided to play "Fish in a Barrel". It was a childish game, and since it was an all-male gym class, at the end of the day no less, most of the guys were feeling childish.

All but two members of the class gathered into a large circle that was textiled into the floor. They were going to attempt not to get hit by the ball that the two people on the outside were going to try and hit them with. Feet only, no shots higher than the chest.

Duo and "K" were on the outside to start, and the game began quickly. The circle was big enough for easy movement, but not so much that the people "trapped" inside could maneuver too well. The two on the outside kicked the ball viciously between them, kicking it across to the other and vise-versa.

"Hey Parkers, heads up!" Duo yelled and kicked the ball right at the called teen. He was about to get creamed when Envy shot out of no where and smashed the ball with his foot, sending it right back at the poor teen and knocking him flat on his ass when it rammed him in the stomach.

The group of students, "OOOH!"ed and cheered, slapping themselves high-fives. Roy called on Envy to leave the circle and become the next "shooter", since he could kick the ball back if he wanted, but he'd still be out. Roy wasn't teaching any sissies, they could just toughen up if they couldn't take the heat.

Envy grinned and helped Duo up, slapping him on the back.

"Aww shit, Envy. That's gonna burn a while. You gonna get it, man." He said jokingly, grinning with a bit of pain in his eyes.

"Suck it up." The green-haired teen commented, and got ready to continue.

Envy only took one shot to switch someone with him, as his kick was far too fast to dodge, and the game started to pick up as the time went by. It wasn't too long until the bell was due to go, and Roy announced the game over, telling them to hit the showers.

Envy went along with the rest to go 'freshen up', when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned slightly to look up at Roy.

Roy, who was in his late 20's, and was well-built and handsome, had very a simple relationship with Envy.

They HATED each other.

"If you start another fight in the showers, I'll personally continue whatever you initiate." He said darkly, referring to last Friday when Envy had gotten into a fight with one of the other guys (and beat the shit out of them for anyone who's interested).

"Whatever, _sensei._" Envy grinned sardonically, and shrugged Roy's hand off. He headed for the rest of the class, but everyone stopped when the PA came on.

"Excuse me, students. This is Principal Bradley speaking."

The whole class shut up from a combination of Roy telling them to shut up, and the fact that Bradley was known to be a playful man, and only ever announced things himself over the PA when there was a very interesting topic. Or when something was terribly wrong.

"As a late present to show my sincerest 'welcome back to school' for you all, there will be a surprise talent show this Friday. You do not have much time to prepare, so I suggest you decide quickly whether you will or will not join. The show will run for all of your last two periods, and a minimum two entries is asked for per homeroom class. I hope you all are having a great start here at West Rain, and have a nice week!"

Noise and general chatter rose from the males, as they crowded into the showers. Envy pondered over the talent show for a brief moment, and then smirked at the opportunity. Perfect day to skip.

Steam filled the large white room as many showers started up. Envy pulled off his shirt, shorts, fingerless gloves, shoes, and headband and threw them over in the corner with his bag (which he only ever retrieved from his locker after lunch). He walked over to the shower area and pushed one of the smaller seniors away from one of the jets of spray to claim it as his own, enjoying the feel of the warm water run down his pale skin. (This is my third shower scene so far. I think I have a fetish..)

Marcus came up and took the shower beside Envy, seeing it was empty (the other senior kinda ran away upon Envy's arrival), and nudged him with his elbow.

"You going to enter?" He asked, referring to the talent show. He turned the knob on his shower to cold, liking the refreshing change. The cool water caressed his tanned, almost-over-muscular body, so unlike the one standing right next to him.

"No way, why would I? What a lame 'present' to receive. Bradley's losing his touch." Marcus laughed.

"Yeah, silly question I guess. Everyone knows you're not talented." He roared his laughter and the shorter green-haired teen shoved him off into another showering guy.

"Yo, jokes, man, jokes. Anyways, want to crash it, or you just want to skip? We could bike down to Rad's and hang out or something."

After he'd enjoyed the feeling of the water run down his androgynous body enough, Envy turned off his shower and went off to grab a towel, Marcus right behind him.

"Yeah, actually. I haven't seen that ass for weeks." Marcus chuckled and grabbed a towel from the rack. They continued to chat about plans and other stuff for the talent show day.

"Yo, is that the guy? The guy you fought last week?" One of the guys on the other side of the room asked another.

"Yeah, that's the fag that nailed me. Yo, get Chuck and Kuriichi over here, let's bust him up." The first guy that asked went off to go find the said people, and the second glared at Envy. He was seething. The guy was rather short in comparison to most of the class, looked like a twig, and his hair made him look like a dammed girl when it was wet. All bunched together and running down his back like that.. What a joke. He got kicked around by a joke. Well, joke's on him, now..

(AN: I'm 2nd POVing this character's opinion, most of you probably realized already that I do this often. This guy's opinion does not reflect my own. I love Envy's sexy twiggy body!)

Envy stood up, now donning his usual tank top, skort, and other accessories. He was about to start drying his hair when, "He even dresses like a fag, too." met his ears. Four guys lined up around Envy and Marcus.

"Hey Chi, move it or you get dropped too." The guy who Envy had beaten up snarled. Marcus went to smugly reply a negative, but Envy elbowed him.

"Bug off, I needed a workout anyways." He said. Marcus looked just a bit skeptical, but he didn't argue. Moving off to the side, he joined the ring of students that were gathering around to watch the impending fight.

"Maa, a bunch of insects gathered around. I wonder what they want?" Envy taunted, crossing his arms.

"You're gonna get your little fag ass kicked, you little bastard. What do you think you can do against four of us, huh?" The guy yelled angrily, pissed off that his target was so uncaring of the unfair situation.

"Ooh, this bug is loud.." Envy merely replied, grinning sardonically.

The first guy rushed forward and tried to punch Envy, but a quick dodge made the guy go flying by him and trip over the bench, right into the wall. Laughter from the crowd only made him madder, and he yelled at the other three guys to rush the green-haired teen.

Punches, kicks, twists, and skillful dodges later, and four students from the gym class lay on the semi-wet floor, unconscious or not willing to move for fear of getting kicked back down again.

Envy pushed the guy who'd challenged him over onto his back with his foot, then lowered down until he was squatting. He picked the guy up by his collar so he was face to face with Envy.

"So, why did you want to re-challenge me again?" He asked cruelly, cocking his head to the side.

"Y-you.. little.. gay bastard..." He muttered, not moving an inch for fear of Envy socking him in the nose again.

"And proud of it." Envy smirked, and with an evil thought, kissed the guy roughly on the lips. General noises of disgust or pity swept through the onlookers, and the guy quickly broke his bout of stillness to push himself away from Envy in panic and horror. The wild teen was laughing his ass off, and got up. He gave one final harsh kick to the fallen male's side, and went to go get his bag. He left, Marcus catching up and chuckling about Envy's joke. (The guy was probably scarred for life..)

The fight was over, so no one paid any more attention to the guys on the floor, save some of their buddies who got them up and helped them wake up a bit. Lucky for Envy, Roy had gone into the gym office, putting away some papers until everyone was out of the showers. He missed the group of guys walking away last, half leaning on the other for support.

They wouldn't be bugging Envy again anytime soon.

* * *

And so, the day ended. Envy had since first period planned on meeting Ed after school at some point, to continue his 'game', but now he didn't quite feel like it anymore. He went home briefly and left again to hang out with Marcus and some guys, and Ed left school looking over his shoulder every two seconds, watching for Envy. 

Isn't he cute when he's paranoid?

* * *

**Cat:** Yay! Another chappie done!  
**Kit:** (wakes up) What? Another one?  
**Phoenix:** Cat, how long is this arch going to be? It seems like it isn't going to be four chapters long like your intro was.  
**Cat:** No, it won't be. The intro is short in comparison, the regular Archs can be like, eight chapters long, give or take. Maybe way longer.  
**Phoenix:** I see.  
**Cat:** Oh, before I forget, the 'Secret Topic' I mentioned earlier will be given out very very soon! Be on the look-out for it! 

So yeah, hope you guys liked the chappie, and look forward to the next chappie! And the Secret Topic that's coming up!

Next time;

Sin High

Chapter 8 - Bird of Many Talents

R&R!  
Bai guys! You rock!


	8. Bird of Many Talents

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

Hey Minna!

Whee! I love your reviews.. I really do.  
Know what? I am learning that reviews WITH presents are very, VERY welcome.  
I got cookies from two reviewers, a watermelon ice thing, ramen, and a gold star (chews).

Know what happened because of it?

I was having a very long discussion with an old friend, and after we truced, I'd just finished off the reviews for day one, and I was so hyper, that once he mentioned something that related to me being hyper (this always sets me off on msn..), I went nuts and started typing so fast I was practically burning plastic. I wasn't making much sense to him too, and I kept typing unreadable stuff 'cause I was laughing so hard. Consequently, I confused him right off-line.

I hope he isn't pissed at me... hehe.. oops..

**A note to two reviewers;**

KatYoukai - Yeah, I named Duo randomly just to see if anyone would notice (chu!)  
Kiellne - "Suicide" referred to running a lap around the gym, chu!

Yeah so, On to the chappie! It's gonna get limey in hurr... 

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 8 - Bird of Many Talents

* * *

"Well well well..." Envy mused.

Cruising along at illegal speeds in the school-zone area, the wild-haired teen murmured in amusement when he saw a certain chibi pacing towards the school's front doors. A quick idea formulated in his head, and he grinned in mirth.

With a strangled scream of rubber on cement, Envy forced his bike off the road, over the sidewalk, over the school curb, and along the walkway to the front doors.

Ripping up grass and leaving trails all over the place, Envy veered his bike towards Ed, who had turned around in time to witness the spectacle in shock.

Ed was even more shocked when Envy didn't stop.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!" Ed screamed as Envy corralled him in the direction of the parking lot, like a high-speed sheep-herding scene. He scrambled, wide-eyed and panicking, around to the other side of the school at top speed, Envy right on his tail.

With a crash of wheel on cement, Envy screeched to a stop, reaching the lot. He was pointing and laughing his ass off at the poor blond, who'd ran right out into the middle of the lot.

Seeing that he wasn't being chased anymore, Ed collapsed onto the ground, laying on his back and breathing heavily. Envy took the pause to lock his bike to the offered stand, and noticed that there were only a few staff cars in the lot. They were early, Ed, because he liked being early, and Envy, 'cause his alarm screwed up again and got him up too early (making him just a **teensy** bit energetic). So, he rode the extra time off and got his opportunity to continue his and Ed's 'game'.

He pulled the tight band keeping his hair slightly in check off and stuck it on the handle, shaking his head to the side to loosen up the confined strands. He trotted his way over to the fallen teen, grinning widely.

Ed opened his eyes and noticed Envy nearing him, and immediately scrambled up comically. Instead of backing off though, he got angry.

Envy stopped dead when Ed stalked over to him, anger flashing in his eyes. Right up to Envy now, Ed barely contained himself from yelling.

"What the hell are you doing? Is This Your Idea Of A Joke!" He spat, poking Envy in the chest with each word.

Envy snatched the chibi's hand and sneered. "It sure is."

Ed jumped at the contact, but narrowed his eyes and jerked his hand away. "I'm not going to let you toy with me anymore. Quit bothering me."

Envy's brows raised in false shock. "Ooh, is that a threat? Did the chibi-chan just try to start a fight?" He grinned, showing off his unusually sharp canines.

Ed glared defiantly at the taller male, but kept his tone even. "Stop calling me that. And I'm not starting anything. But don't push me Envy, I won't take it anymore."

Envy stepped forward and offered a cheek to the shorter teen. He pointed at it tauntingly. "Then do something about it."

Getting nothing but a glare as a response, Envy grinned and flicked Ed's stubborn cowlick. With the teasing gesture, Ed seemed to lose his patience and finally threw a punch at the wild-haired teen before he'd really thought about it.

Jumping back with ease, Envy goaded Ed along, expertly keeping just enough distance between them that Ed couldn't hit him, but not enough to discourage or distract his assailant.

Finally, Ed threw a long, arching fist at the taller teen, but instead of dodging, Envy caught it. Ed gasped as Envy pulled Ed towards him forcefully and spun around with more grace than he should be permitted. Ed was no longer in the middle of the parking lot, but right up against the school building's wall.

Ed spared a moment to mentally beat himself for being played so easily, and Envy took the pause to grab Ed's other hand, pinning both captured limbs above their owner's head.

"Let go of me you bastard!" Ed tried to kick Envy, but, no shame, Envy pressed flush up against him and limited all movement. Ed, despite his anger, blushed at how close they were (and the fact that most of Envy was uncovered..).

"Remember the Bottle Roulette game, when I kissed you?" Envy purred. "Let's see if you're any better the second time around."

Ed barely had time to gasp as Envy pressed his lips forcefully against his own. Shock clouded his mind and made it impossible to respond. Envy, the Envy, infamous, school-known Envy, was kissing him. A sly little voice at the back of his mind eagerly reminded him that it was the second time.

Envy slipped his tongue into Ed's mouth, not bothering with permission. The sensation brought Ed back to reality with a **snap,** and he ripped his head away, teeth bared.

"Fuck you! Let me go!" He snarled. It wasn't just anger in his eyes, it was a damaged ego. Envy wasn't sure whether the chibi's stubbornness annoyed or pleased him.

He opted for door number two.

"Checkmate, chibi." Envy said silkily, looking deep into his prey's eyes. Ed took a moment to revel in the vicious shade of violet, but quickly passed it off.

"What?" He growled.

"You won the round yesterday, chibi, and I'm rather spiteful because of it. This time however, the war is looking to be more in my favor, huh?" He grinned, showing off his sharp canines again.

It struck Ed that Envy was still playing all this as a game, and this was his move. He'd mentioned it yesterday when he was whispering to the chibi in first period. The game was simple, who's will was stronger? Could Ed keep Envy from trying to possess him, or would he fail?

"Round, huh... If this is all just a game to you... Then I'll pull out my trump card..."

Ed shoved Envy, not getting far at all, but that wasn't his objective. Clearly indicated by the older teen's iron grip and unmovable body, Envy was much stronger than he was. Force against a stronger force would always lose.

But ramming said force in the forehead did the trick.

With the space Ed's movement allowed him, a sound **crack** resonated as Ed smashed his forehead against the other's, making him yell in surprise.

To Ed's dismay however, he didn't let go.

"Nice try chibi, but all that did was piss me off." Envy said, glaring. The smaller teen hadn't caught him right in the forehead, no, his headband would have softened it. He caught Envy square in the brow. He backed away a bit and pushed Ed's feet to the right with his own foot, while shoving the rest of his body to the left. Ed fell, wide-eyed at the sudden move, and landed harshly on the ground, Envy following him and using him as a human cushion.

Ed cried out when his head hit the pavement, and Envy hit him. He was completely winded, and had an even harder time trying to breathe when Envy kissed along his jaw line.

"You know chibi... Even with all your stubborn streaks... You're quite fun. You taste good, too." Ed jerked, trying to move him off. Envy was completely pinning him, arms beside his head. "But you've been naughty." Malicious grin. "Naughty boys get punished."

Ed tried to fight off his (embarrassingly clothed) opponent when he realized Envy was going to try and take hold of both his wrists with one hand. Ed didn't want to give him a free hand, not at all.

Using strength born from desperation, Ed managed to push both Envy's wrists together instead, and held on to them like his life depended on it, until he could spring the oldest talent he knew he had.

Envy frowned at the fact that Ed's hands, (which had previously struggled to hold the older teen's together) now seemed to be shackled to his own and held there with ease. Try as he might, he couldn't pull his own wrists apart. The stress of trying to stay up in the position was too much, and Envy leaned down closer to Ed so he could support his weight on his elbows.

Ed cracked a grin at Envy's struggling. Envy growled his frustration at the seemingly steel-fingered teen.

"Shit! Since when do you have such a strong grip!" Envy cursed.

"Since I'm double-jointed and I can lock the bones in my fingers." Ed replied smugly. Envy just stared at him.

"Double-jointed. You're shitting me."

Envy was none-to-pleased with the situation. He was on top, but Ed had his wrists. Damnit!

Envy let his arms go limp, and both his and Ed's hands rested on the blonde's chest. He looked at the blond with a dumbfounded expression.

"I can't believe you're parrying me with some freaky hand trick." He murmured. Ed smirked at him.

Envy slowly relaxed his body and lay his head on Ed's chest. "I guess we're here until you let go." Ed snorted at Envy. This guy just didn't give up...

"Touka Koukan."

"What?"

"Equivalent Exchange." Ed repeated. "I'll let go of you, if you get off of me."

Envy thought about it for a moment. He didn't like leaving the "round" at a draw, but school was to start soon and surely someone would be over in the parking lot and interrupt them if they were to have a battle of persistence. Envy smirked crookedly and shrugged.

He got up best he could while Ed still held on to him, and after a moment, with ten quick, consecutive snaps, Ed let go. Envy dusted himself off of imaginary dirt, and frowned slightly.

So far, he'd drawn with Ed during a fight and during this round. He'd been _beaten_ by Ed in class, and on Saturday. Judging by the small smirk on the blonde's face, Ed was thinking the same thing. This kid was something else...

"The more you fight me, the more I'll come after you. And I don't think I'll play nice anymore." Envy said dangerously, feeling a bad mood come on. Ed shrugged, but realized it was a bad idea when Envy moved like lighting and shoved him into the wall, grabbing his arms again.

A short yelp came from the chibi when a sharp pain cut into the skin between his neck and shoulder. He groaned at the sensation with half-lidded eyes as Envy sucked on the sore spot.

Violet met gold, and Envy said, just barely over a whisper;

"Don't shrug me off chibi. I've been nice, but Never shrug me off. I'm not _that_ patient."

Ed decided here and now never to shrug the older teen off ever again. Envy let go of him and backed away, flipping Ed's bangs even though no humor graced his face. He turned, and with a final deep look, walked away, making the blond question just **how** easy Envy had been going on him.

* * *

Ed walked up to the door of his first period class, seeing that most of the students were already in there. He would have been one of the first like usual, but he'd taken a trip to the washroom to clean up Envy's little 'gift'.

He sat down in his chair, noticing Envy was not in the class, but almost immediately, some of the girls that sat to his right in their big, intimidating group, came over and sat around him, chattering and laughing.

"Oh my god, are you going to enter in the talent show? That would be so cute!"

"You could like, dance or something!"

"I'd dance with you.."

"Is that a hickey?"

Ed looked wide-eyed at the girl who'd asked the last question, and instinctively clapped a hand to the dark bruise. He must have not covered it well enough..

(He was wearing a wide-neck shirt, it revealed half of his shoulders. A little out of character for him at school, but Envy's comment about him "covering up" from Saturday irked him more than he let on.)

The girls got all excited and demanded to see it, and finally, Ed gave in and moved his hand, blushing at the responses.

"Wow… That's pretty severe.."

"Who gave it to you?"

This, Ed refused to answer, and he was only saved when Envy and some other guys walked in and the bell rang. Scieszka called for everyone to go to their seats, and the girls looked forlornly at Ed, wanting their answer.

'Too bad.' Ed thought with a small smile.

.0.

"Alright, Everyone is here! (AN: That's a first..) Excellent! Now, I'd like to touch upon something Principal Bradley said yesterday." Scieszka said brightly, putting down her attendance sheet. Most of the students looked bored at the choice of topic, but some seemed rather interested. Mildly.

"So, this Friday, that's only in three days, there's going to be a surprise talent show! We need at least two entries, but I'm sure that's not a problem! Who's going to be brave enough to represent your school and show everyone what you're made of? **Who wants to be in the talent show**!" Scieszka threw her arms up in enthusiasm, smiling brightly.

The class threw papers up and cheered, slamming their fists on the table and laughing and waving, streamers were tossed and confetti flew all over the place and-

Yeah right.

Silence filled the room as not a single hand was raised. Snickers were heard as Scieszka lowered her arms from their "Bonzai!" position, and looked out at the class, unhappy with the lack of enthusiasm. She looked like she wanted to pout, badly.

"Well, I guess we'll have to settle with a vote..." To her complete surprise, the class perked up and immediately started talking and chattering, some people openly cheering for the idea. Hmm... So the class was full of back-stabbers was it..

­

* * *

"Only two names, and remember, they have to be different!"

Scieszka wandered around the classroom, collecting small scraps of paper from each student. Each scrap was to have two names of two different students on it, and she would tally them up to get her two entries.

Envy poked Ed in the back and said in a smooth tone, "I'm picking you." Ed turned his head and glared, replying with, "I'm picking you too."

Marcus chuckled at the two's antics. Little did they know, he was picking both of them. (AN: XDDD)

Finally, Scieszka had collected exactly 28 papers (Everyone in the class was present, it's a 5x6 desk class, so there's two empty desks. Yes, I actually have a real seating plan, shut up!). She told the class to 'please stay calm and quiet for a few minutes' as she tallied. Well, it wasn't calm and quiet, but she tallied.

"Ne, Chibi. If you get picked, what are you going to do?" Envy questioned, cocking his head to the side smugly. The morning was already forgotten for more interesting topics. He wasn't one to forget wrongs against him, but his sweet vengeance would be properly timed.

Ed muttered at him for calling him short, but didn't reply other-wise. He wasn't **going** to get picked. So it didn't matter.

A minute later, Scieszka stood up, and felt a definite whoosh of power when the class silenced immediately.

"I have our two entries!" She announced, and nearly giggled at the sheer anticipation the group of girls to the left of the class were portraying. Marcus pointed at Envy mouthing, "You! You!"

Envy gave his friend the middle finger.

"Our two winners, with an astounding 13 votes each, are Envy and Edward!"

Silence hung as everyone waited for a reaction. Ed's mouth was moving wordlessly, and Envy yelled out, "You **_ALL_** voted for us? You fucks!" He leaned back in his chair and slapped his forehead in exasperation, and the laugher rang out merrily at the two unfortunates. Ed covered his face in his hand to hide the blush, the group of girls to his right were kyaa-ing over "how cute he was".

Now, with three days to prepare, I wonder what these two will be doing for their entries, hmm?

Hehehe...

* * *

**Cat:** WHoooooOOO!  
**Kit:** Isn't that kinda short?  
**Cat:** NO! .. It's normal, most of the other chapters have just been long..  
**Kit:** Hmm.  
**Kage:** Your chapters are much shorter without the review response section. Even more so after you went through and edited/cut all the chapters.  
**Cat:** True. Actually, I'm glad I don't do the RR anymore, it probably irked some people, and frankly, It took up a lot of space and time. I appreciate my reviewers all the same, and I'm sure they know it!  
**Kage:** Touching.  
**Seira:** And now for the SECRET TOPIC!  
**Cat:** Nope! Guess what, it's going to be revealed in the **next chapter**! DUN DUN DUN! (cue cheesy 60s effects)  
**Seira:** Aww...  
**Cat:** Yeah, I know. I can't even give the title of the next chapter, or I'll give it away. Though I bet everyone's already figured it out by now... hehe...  
**Kit:** Watch them all have (secret topic here) already. For both of them.  
**Cat:** It's my number one fear and it keeps me up at night. (Rolls eyes) But honestly, that would suck.  
**Phoenix:** If I may ask, why next chapter and not on the day of the talent show?  
**Cat:** ... Now you _really _just gave it away.. Anyways, it's because I want everyone to have it before the show happens, and I'll say no more 'cause that would practically spell out what it is.  
**Seira:** ... This secretive talk is cruel, you know that? Your readers will hate you, I'll bet. They'll like, hold a grudge and not review and you'll lose interest in the story and stop updating and delete the story and fall into angst and depress over your life and try to barricade yourself in your room and die from hunger and wander as a lost soul and-  
**Cat:** NEEDLESS RAMBLING IS **MY **THING!  
**Seira:** Oops. Sorry!

Yeah, so, There's the chapter, look forward to the next one! The Talent Show is coming up, what have I got planned! And how does it relate to the Secret Topic! (cheesy effects) Bring on the Preparation fillers! Whoo!

See you at the next chapter!

R&R!


	9. Songbirds Pt1

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

Holy fucking POPSICLE SHITS!

This chappie is short. It's half-AN even..

…

Anyways, from the reviewers, I got:

A lifetime supply of all sorts of food  
Two batches of cookies,  
A cake, (wait... MUD?)  
Waffles  
A biscuit (..Cat. CAT.)  
A cake w/ a sparkler in it (eats sparkler) (!$&)  
And raman.

I will never go hungry again. (sucks on fun-dip stick)

Thank you guys so much! I have never felt so loved in my life! Before I break out in tears and quote a Miss America, I'll let you guys go read the chappie now, enjoy it!

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 9 - Songbirds - Part 1

* * *

Act 1 - Tuesday - 7:47am - Elric House Kitchen  
..0..0.. 

"Ne, Ne, Niisan, why don't you sing!" Al offered excitedly. Ed practically choked on his cereal.

Monday had gone rather smoothly, though Ed tried to avoid Envy as much as possible, and after arriving home, had told Al the news about his forced-entry into the talent show. Al had many suggestions, I assure you.

"Sing? Me? In front of all those people? Are you nuts!" Ed gasped, eyes wide.

"Niisan! You have such a nice voice! Remember when you used to sing that 'memories' song for me when we were younger? Sing that! Everyone would love it!" Al looked truly excited, and seemed like he wanted to jump right out of his wheelchair in enthusiasm.

Ed pouted. "I didn't even want to do this.. Now I'm going to sing in front of that many people? Taku..."

Al cheered, seeing that he won his way.

* * *

Act 2 - Tuesday - 7:49am - Envy's living Room  
...0...0... 

"'K, shake."

Envy used two hands to shake a small dark coffee can as fast as he could. He, Marcus, and another boy from their class, Duo (by popular demand comment), watched the rapid movement in interest.

"No matter what, you gotta do what the slip says." Marcus grinned.

"Absolutely no backing out." Duo grinned. Envy looked suspiciously at the two.

"What the hell did you guys write down..." He muttered. He'd invited two of his closest friends over to help him decide what to pick for the talent show. He figured that seriously deciding on something by himself would be no fun and kinda lame, so he got the two to write down, "Anything they wanted" on slips of paper, and they'd raffle the choice out of an empty coffee beans can.

Envy stopped shaking the can and opened the lid, shooting "western-cowboy evil eyes" at the other two. He picked out a slip of paper and set down the can.

Slowly unfolding the slip, he peered down at the fairly messy writing that ordered him to...

"Sing the song, **Mirai!**"

* * *

Act 3 - Tuesday - 8:35m - Havoc's class  
..0..0.. 

Envy walked in to a bustling class full of energy. His attention however, was directed to a certain blond who was focused on a sheet of paper.

Sauntering over, he tried to catch a glimpse of the topic, but Ed pressed the paper against his chest. "It's rude to read over people's shoulders." He said, turning his head and glaring.

"Still haven't forgiven me? Suck it up, chibi. You're just mad 'cause you're losing this little game of wills." Envy sneered. He reached over and pressed the general area he knew Ed's 'present' from him was.

"Or does this hurt and it's making you grouchy?" Ed swung his shoulder roughly and looked at Envy with annoyance. "Can I see it? How hard did I get you? I wasn't paying attention.."

"Bullshit. Leave me alone, Envy, I need to memorize this." Ed snapped, turning back and focusing on the paper. He sighed deeply when he felt the annoyingly familiar feeling of Envy playing with his hair.

"Okay everyone! Let's settle down please! I'd like to start class now!" Scieszka called out cheerfully, happy that the class seemed to be in such great spirits. As soon as the noise died off, a student took the opportunity to shout out a demand.

"Envy! What are you doing for the talent show!" A chorus of agreements and questions flew up, Scieszka tried to quiet it down, but to no effect. Finally, she sent the teen a pleading look, to which he stood up in reply and faced the questioning teen who'd started the mess.

"You'll.. Find.. Out."

Wink.

* * *

Act 4 - Tuesday - 12:13pm - School Cafeteria  
..0...0.. 

When Ed bit into his chicken-burger, he did not expect a finger to trail up his spine, or for the resulting electric jolts that ran back down.

Consequentially, Ed was hacking and choking on his food, trying to get his mouthful under control. With a hasty swallow, he turned angrily to see Envy with his arms crossed and wearing a wide, playful smirk.

"I could have choked on that!" He snarled. Envy sat down beside him on the bench, and didn't look put off in the least when Ed moved over hastily, right against the wall.

"If you did choke, I'd have to give you CPR, ne? Then you'd owe me your life." Envy said, and turned his gaze to the ceiling slyly.

Ed took a quick sip of his drink. "CPR is for if I collapsed, and couldn't breathe, baka. And if I was in such a situation, I'd rather just die than have you put your lips anywhere near me."

"Again." Envy added, grinning. Ed flinched and turned away, trying to hide his blush. In all honesty, he didn't know why he didn't just leave, walk away from Envy and ignore him. Maybe he was just getting used to the other teen. Or maybe he was starting to l-

'Nope! Not even going there!' Ed screamed at himself mentally. He jerked up with the thought, earning a quirked eyebrow from Envy.

"Troubles?" He purred. Ed snorted and glared.

"You're the source of all my troubles right now. Can't you sit somewhere else? I want to eat in peace."

Envy folded his arms on the table and lay his head so he could still look at the blond. "I'll be quiet." He said with a knowing smirk. Ed looked at him suspiciously, but decided to just leave it and see what the older teen was up to.

Two bites into his burger and Ed knew **exactly **what Envy was up to.

He wasn't moving. He wasn't speaking. He was just staring. Staring staring staring.

Ed was starting to feel very self-conscious of every chew, every twitch. He felt a blush creep up onto his face as those piercing violet eyes didn't leave him for a moment.

He glanced at the green-haired teen for a second, and swore that his smirk got wider.

Crack.

"Stop staring at me!"

"Maa, chibi, I'm being nice, and not bothering you! You're just trying to start a fight."

"I am not! You're staring at me, _that's_ bothering me! And don't call me short!"

"Ah, can't be helped. The chibi is paranoid! No wonder you're doing so poor in this game!"

"Don't call me short! And I'm not paranoid! Leave me alone!" Ed went to get up in a huff, this guy got under his skin so easy! Envy wasn't having any of it however.

Since Ed was sitting right against the wall, it wasn't hard for Envy to intercept him and keep him there, two arms on either side of him planted against the wall did the trick.

Ed looked up at Envy and felt his face brighten at the thought that the whole cafeteria could be watching. Honestly, not many were noticing, but Ed didn't know that.

"Move, Envy." He said, gathering his courage.

"I love when you say my name." Ed breathed in sharply at that, an unfamiliar feeling in his stomach sparked with the comment. He managed to catch a whiff of Envy as well, thanks to their close proximity. Intriguing, soft, yet with a slightly musky edge to it...

Ed was surprised back to reality when Envy's face was quite suddenly close to his, eyes locked.

"Say my name again.."

Ed panicked. He shoved Envy in the chest and fled, backpack and lunch forgotten. Envy watched him go with a mix of amusement and disappointment on his face.

All Ed could think about as he fled to the washroom was how much he **didn't **like how Envy smelled. Or looked. Or spoke. Or acted... No way. No doubt. No lies.

His blush wasn't very assuring..

* * *

Okay! This chappie is short, but I have a reason! 

**Kit:** This chapter is to finally give you guys the Secret Topic.  
**Cat:** And the next one is a stall to make sure everyone has it before the talent show...  
**Seira: **And the Secret Topic is:  
**Cat:** The songs that Envy and Ed are going to be singing are **actually **them singing! And **you **guys are going to be given links to the songs!

Yup, you heard right, Ed, voice-acted by Paku Romi, will have his/her song "Returnable Memories" from the OST sung for the talent show. In the fic, this song was sung by someone else, someone who doesn't sound like Ed. Same goes for Envy.

Envy's song, is a little more complicated. Yamaguchi Mayumi, Envy's voice actor, was never given an image song for FMA. Returnable Memories, and three others, are Ed's. The song "Mirai" (which I have listened to countless times since I found it, surprisingly recently), is actually the image song for a digimon character! But, it's Envy's voice, it's easily visualized as Envy, and really, it's in the ear of the be-listener, so as far as I'm concerned, it's Envy's unrelated image-song, dammit!

So, these are the links for the songs, I want everyone to have them if they don't already so you guys can feel the magic of the talent show chapter!

**EVERYTHING HERE, INCLUDING THE VARIOUS LINKS WERE TAKEN DOWN.  
****-**Because I'm linking to my own site instead (grin). You'll find Mirai and Returnable Memories under the Media section of my site expxe(dot)com.

Yeah so, look forward to my second stall-chappie, and I'll say sorry in advance for getting people addicted to Mirai. Envy's song is like audio-crack, you just have to listen to it on repeat... And Ed's RMemories is almost as bad...

Don't forget to review!

See ya next time!

* * *

Next Time, on Sin High: 

Chapter 10 - Songbirds - Part 2

The second of three parts concerning the talent show, and the one right before the limelights! Ed and Envy are practicing, as are the rest of the contestants, but how ready will they be?

This will be a two part chapter, covering Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll be much longer than this one!

Watch out, it's not all filler. Envy pulls another feisty move on Ed, but this time, Ed fights back...

See ya next time!


	10. Songbirds Pt2

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

All right! The second part of Songbirds is here!

**Kit:** Damn.. This is long...  
**Cat:** Longest chapter yet, and it's making up for the last two!  
**Kit:** Amazing...

This chapter follows the same "Labeled" skipping like the last chapter. That's my "Part" chapters style. Chapters with "Part" or "pt" in their name will be conducted like that. BTW, this suddenly turned non-filler. It's long. It's packed. A lot happens.. I hope I didn't screw up..

**I got from the Reviewers:**

Spaghetti, (Whoo! Nope, never got that before!)  
Cookies!  
Pop Tarts (Sugar! My Life-blood!)  
"Pot-of-gold chocolate thing" (mmm... pot... I mean... chocolate... -.-) (I don't do drugs! I swear!)  
Pocky! x2  
Ice-Cream Sundae

See ya next time!

... This chapter took 8 hours to write! Damn!

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 10 - Songbirds - Part 2

* * *

Act 1 - Wednesday - 1:45pm - Marco's Class (Third Period)  
..0...0..

Lunch had been rather exciting. All the entries for the talent show had been called to the gym and were to propose to the people running it what their act was, what it included, props needed, length, etc. Ed had been blushing, to his embarrassment, when he explained his act. He was lucky that Al's old cd with the song he was singing on it also had it's instrumental version, else he'd have had a very big problem. He was just thankful that karaoke was so popularly associated with the singer (AN: Envy was lucky too in the same respect, Duo's CD had an instrumental for each song on it. It was the karaoke special, hence all the lyrics with it).

With that done, he stuck around to see the final count of acts and time. A "last-minute-drop-out" warning was issued. Most of the people who had been forced into the show by their classmates or friends, etc, took the chance eagerly and dropped out (Envy didn't drop out, he wasn't around for the warning. He submitted his act and left. Heh, impatience gets you no where!). About half of the participants were left, and it was organized right there on the spot. Similar acts and acts that were too lengthy (which was quite a considerable number..) were discussed and cut, as a volunteer didn't get you right into the show, it just meant you were a candidate for it. The first 250 volunteered acts had been cut by roughly half after the "last-minute" warning, and the remaining hundred and twenty-so were quickly scrutinized and fit to the time length. At last, just under 40 acts were fit in, with two dozen on back-up. The average time for each act just breached 3 minutes. All the participants would be given an order number and would know exactly when they were to go on stage within the next two days. The gymnasium was announced to be open for the next two days for further organizing and questions and comments and such.

When lunch ended, Ed went straight to third period. A quick assembling of the class, and everyone was calmly working within minutes of the class starting. Ed was focused on his review sheet. There was always a quiz on Friday in Marco's class, but due to the Talent Show, he bumped it a day earlier. This week, however, it was a very important quiz, it had the same marks as a test. It was on a very complicate sequence that the class had been taught and practicing since Monday. Now review, tomorrow, the quiz.

Anyways, Ed wasn't having problems with it, nor was he being terribly interesting at the point, so let's switch over to Envy, shall we? Speaking of which, yesterday in this very class, Envy had returned Ed's bag to him. The chibi wasn't happy, but accepted his bag none-the-less.

Envy left out that he'd finished Ed's lunch, but the blond wasn't very hungry anyways, so it was okay. (AN: (laughing))

Envy was bored as hell. The review papers lay rejected on his desk, and he had no intention of paying attention to them. He didn't understand the sequence, and he didn't feel like stressing over it. So he slouched in his seat with a pen hanging out of his mouth, and glared at Marco every time the teacher glanced his way.

Finally, without raising his hand, he announced that he had to use the washroom. Marco sighed, knowing that Envy wasn't going to come back. There wasn't much one could do when dealing with the stubborn teen, so he stopped trying a long time ago.

Envy grabbed his bag and left the review paper on his desk, walking out of the maze of desks and making his way to the door around the perimeter of the class. He winked at Ed as he left, much to the blonde's embarrassment. Hmm.. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't bugged the boy that much in first period.

Envy shrugged it off and walked out the door. He was just going to plain go home and stay there, but maybe he'd come back after school and pester the chibi. Seemed like a good idea.

His stroll down the hall was momentarily paused with questioning by one of the two hall monitors, but he was known even to them, and the guy waved Envy off with a sigh when the teen said he was "sick and had to go home" in a tone that clearly challenged him to argue the lie.

The ride home on his bike was uneventful, even with the diving people and dangerous tricks. It was all just another regular drive to Envy. He hated boring, and by the time he got home, he was as bored as he was in class.

'That's probably why I'm fining that chibi to be so fun to bother.. He's quite the change..' Envy pondered to himself as he walked through his door. Falling ungracefully onto his couch, he slung an arm over the rest and propped a leg on the other.

He was wearing his long leather pants today, and decided after a moment that they were too restricting. That's why he preferred his skorts..

Getting right back up to find said article of clothing, he made the trip to his room and back. When he sat back down on the couch, he noticed the slip of paper that said, "Sing 'Mirai'".

Envy sighed. Damn you, Duo.

Once, a while back, He, Duo, Marcus, and some other guys clubbed and actually managed to all get drunk, even Envy. Some girls on the stage had asked for one of them to karaoke with them, and Envy got voted to go up. The song was Mirai, a rather popular song by a popular artist at the time, and even though he was drunk, very obviously so to the girls and the onlookers, he sung the song quite well.

Envy leaned back on the couch and crossed his bare legs. Damn Duo, **and** his memory.

Envy had never really sung before, nor had he since, though his friends had at the time, mentioned that he should keep the idea in mind. Marcus had told him that his voice was rather high (which he got shoved for..), and that he could probably pull off a few small-time hits and then sink back into the crowd. One of the other two guys had commented that Envy wasn't _capable_ of sinking into the crowd, but the bottom line was, Envy had never planned on singing again.

Damn Duo. Damn his memory. Damn his sadistic streaks.

Envy looked a bit further from the slip of paper to a CD case. Duo had dropped it off this morning. It had the song on it, as well as the lyrics for all the songs. He reached over and picked it up. A moment later, Envy was lying down and reading the lyrics over.

Man.. this song was so.. Optimistic.

Sitting up again, he took the CD and walked over to his front door. Locking it, he headed for the stairs.

If he was going to practice, even a little bit, NO ONE was going to walk in on him. If someone was at the door and he couldn't hear them, oh well.

Back in his room, he dug out his old stereo from the closet, and set it up on his desk (after grabbing one side and lifting it so the things cluttering the top all fell on the floor..).

Before he popped the cd in, he took a minute to glance around at his room. He had a whole lot of shit lying around, mostly stuff he'd never use again. He was an impulse-buyer, and usually bought stuff that caught his interest. They didn't tend to hold it for very long, so he dumped them in or around the house and forgot about them.

He had the money to live like that, since his grandmother gave him all the money as he'd mentioned to Ed last week.

He was being funded by his grandmother, Dana, but she'd told him years ago that she would not support him anymore if he had not graduated from High school by age 19. As long as he was in school, she'd fund him, so he was being expected to go to collage, and later, university (which she offered to pay for as well. Yes, she's **that** rich.) When he'd finished school, he was expected to get a job, and slowly start to take over his own costs. When she passed away, he was to be qualified enough to inherit the fortune.

So his path to a perfect, Kodak-worthy life was being handed to him, and he hated it.

He was fine with using his given money now, but he struggled in school. He didn't like what he had to learn, and he **did not** want to go to collage. He didn't care if he wasn't going to be funded, he didn't care if he wasn't going to inherit the fortune.

He didn't want to lean on someone else and be guided for his whole life. When the time came for him to support himself, he was going to try and find something he liked, and would live making money like that.

He refused to think too deeply on the subject of his future. He cursed the CD in his hands for the irony of the song. (Mirai - Future)

When came time to decide what to do with his life, he'd think about it then. Not now, when his care-free life was so preciously short.

He decided after a few minutes of shoving everything up against the walls, that he was going to go around the house and collect everything he knew he'd never use again. He'd give it all to charity, though he sure as hell wasn't going to right now.

With that done, he took the cd out of it's case and put it in the receiver of the stereo, and set the tracker to "7". When the loud, forceful intro started, Envy glanced at the lyrics and quickly started to recall the song. He'd heard it many times, back when it was popular, so it wasn't hard.

All too quickly, he found himself enjoying the practice. Soon, he was trying to out-volume the actual singer. The singer, a guy with a much deeper voice, had a very different style than he did, but his own new spin on the song seemed rather pleasing. He was actually proud of his version. His voice was high enough to play the song nicely, though he wasn't over-joyed to admit it, but it seemed to be in for the best. Maybe this talent show thing wasn't going to be as bad as he thought it would...

* * *

(AN: Okay, I know that was all over the place, but forgive me, please. Half-way through I suddenly got inspired, and along with a big headache, I managed to get down the rough idea for this story's sequel. Yup, very big-picture. Don't expect to see it soon however, this story is planned at like.. 30-40 chapters.. Maybe. More, less, I don't know. Anyways, sorry, please continue!)

* * *

Act 2 - Wednesday - 4:30pm - Somewhere between Hasawa Street and West Rain High School  
...0..0...

Ed felt an icy cold hand of nervousness grip his stomach as the sound of tortured tires screamed in his ears. Turning around, he saw that his fears were confirmed.

Envy was racing down the street on his red motorcycle, and Ed was still a block away from home.

Shit.

There wasn't much Ed could do as the vehicle along with it's psychotic passenger raced by him and pulled a sharp, moving U-turn, much sharper than advised. Ed moved a few paces to the left and struck his head against the wall-fence there repeatedly.

"Now now, chibi, that can't be healthy." Envy sneered as he dismounted. Losing the hair-tie as usual, he paced over to Ed.

Ed glared at Envy. "Haven't you harassed me enough, Envy?" He sighed. This was almost getting redundant...

"No way, chibi. I'm having far too much fun with you! And you know you like the attention.." He sang. Ed snorted and protested loudly.

Ed tried to calculate an escape plan within the few precious seconds it was going to take Envy to completely close the distance between them. His house was a short block away, if he ran, he'd probably make it. If Envy went back for his bike, that would stall him enough so that Ed would be half-way down the block (he's a fast little bugger..). Envy couldn't do much to him on the bike, he obviously didn't want to hurt Ed (or he hoped so..), and the confusion would probably allow him to get back home.

So, just before Envy could reach him, he dodged to the right and bolted as fast as hit short legs could carry him.

He hadn't calculated in his quick plan that Envy might be faster than him.

He barely got anywhere before Envy grabbed the handle strap of his bag and halted him way too quick for comfort. Ed squirmed out of the arm straps, but that was exactly what Envy wanted. Dropping the bag as soon as it was loose, Envy quickly wrapped his arms around Ed before he had a chance to bolt again.

"Mmmph.. Grr.. Let go of me!" Ed growled, squirming for all he was worth in the older male's strong grip. Envy tilted his head and said lowly in Ed's ear, "Why should I?" Ed felt a distinct shiver run up his spine as Envy's breath ran over his cheek.

"Uh.. I.. Because I'm telling you to!" Ed said angrily. He was doing that on purpose... Making him lose track of thought like that.. Bastard..

"Then I'll tell you to cooperate... Will you do that?" Envy smirked. "I didn't think so. Not very fair in our thinking, are we?"

"Dammit, Envy! Let me go!" Ed yelled, trying to throw them off-balance. "I'm not playing silly games with you!"

Envy had no problem keeping the chibi's inferior strength in check, and he laughed at Ed's comment. "Oh, we'll play games, all right. We'll play games until you can beat me in them! You're still no match." He snickered and lazily drew his tongue over the back of Ed's ear, where it was sensitive. He delighted in Ed's body freezing up, and his small gasp of surprise.

"E-E-n..vy... This is harassment... I.. I could get a restraining order..." He tried to mumble, hating how his jaw didn't want to work. If he hated the attention so much, why was his body responding so fiercely!

"Wouldn't that be something.." Envy said uncaring. He pushed Ed over a few steps until he was pinning the teen to the wall-fence, face-first. He entwined their fingers and pinned both of Ed's hands against the wall to either side of them. He pressed up fully against Ed's smaller body, completely and utterly pinning him.

Ed was blushing so furiously that he felt like his face would melt. The feeling of Envy's well-toned, semi-clothed, bigger body pushing him up against the wall was triggering some sort of feeling in him that he was not used to at **all.**

"Envy stop it... Stop it." He stuttered. His struggles were weak in comparison to the older teen's! He was almost thankful for facing the wall, he didn't think he could take those eyes on top of this..

"Why? Your body says you like it. Follow your instincts, Edo. What are your instincts telling you right now?" Envy purred in the shorter teen's ear. Ed suppressed another shiver, and muttered back, "My instincts are telling me to run the hell away.."

For a second, Envy was silent. Then he started to laugh. Ed was a little put out at being laughed at, and showed it by trying futilely to shove Envy off.

"Chibi, you don't cease to amaze." He said, laughter in his voice. He moved back and stopped pinning Ed. The blond thought for a fleeting moment that Envy was letting him go, but the second he turned to face the taller teen, he was right back to being pinned. This time however, Envy's face was mere inches from his own.

His blush born anew, Ed tried not to look Envy in the eyes. Those eyes were too intriguing.. He didn't want to get caught staring into them...

"Are you scared of me, chibi?" Ed was shocked into looking at Envy from the question. That wasn't expected..

"No." Ed snorted, but raced off the first words that came to mind. "But I sure as hell don't associate anything good with you." Envy cocked his head slightly.

"Hmm. I don't either. Ne, if you're not scared of me, kiss me." Amber eyes widened at violet.

"Kiss you! I don't even like you! Those other two times (blush) were.. Um, nothing special!" Ed was tripping over his usually well-thought comebacks. It was hard to think that he and Envy had already kissed twice...

"No, nothing special. Not yet." Envy said with a small smirk. He pressed his lips hungrily to Ed's without another word or warning. Ed's eyes flew open, but he couldn't find the will to fight as hard as he had...

Envy's mouth ravaged Ed's, it was a mind-blowing sensation, Ed was feeling lost to it. His eyes drifted half-closed, his mind wasn't allowing him to think of anything but the warm body pressed to his, the lips forcing themselves harder against his own..

Envy was surprised to say in the least when Ed not only responded, but fought him unmistakably for dominance. He eased up and let the blond kiss him back forcefully. Ed was actually pushing him back, in his new surge to kiss the wild-haired teen...

Amber eyes flew open and met amused violet ones, and Ed jerked back so suddenly he smacked his head against the wall-fence. When his vision cleared, his jaw just hung loosely, staring at the soft expression Envy was wearing, finding no explanation for his sudden urge to.. Dominate.

"My... So he **can** kiss. This'll be quite the struggle down the road... Will be quite interesting..." Envy said silkily (if not a little breathlessly). All Ed could manage was a jumbled mess of, "I..I..I" and "Uh.."

Seizing his opportunity, Envy said his long-awaited, powerful words.

"Edo, we've been playing this as a game. Well, I'm going to make my critical move. I'll tell you this now..." A wide grin took over Envy's features, and his eyes narrowed in mirth. "I want you to be my _boyfriend!_"

Ed could only stutter a bunch of, "b's", still too shocked at his own actions. When the proposition sunk in, he gaped at the taller teen.

"Your **WHAT?**"

"_Boyfriend,_ Edo, you know what the word means, right?" Envy said cheerfully. Ed shook his head almost spastically.

"No no no no no! Don't ask me something like that, I don't like you! Why do you like _me_, so much?"

The taller teen looked up a little bit, as if in thought. He locked eyes again and half-smiled, half-smirked.

"I'm not entirely sure, chibi. I guess I just do. You, for one, seem like you are very deprived in the love-life section, so I'm sure this would be a very good learning experience." Envy was puzzled as Ed's expression grew dark.

"So, you want to play with me for an undeterminable reason for an undeterminable amount of time. Envy, the reason I don't date or anything is because I don't believe that a true relationship can be formed in people so young. I'm not going to be toyed with by you just so you can have some kicks and then abandon me."

"... So if I stayed with you..."

"You can't promise that. And in the end, I don't like you. I don't _want_ to be with you."

Envy stared deeply at the smaller teen. This kid was scared of being left alone. The last bit stung a bit, but Envy understood just how serious the chibi was about his love-life. One lover, and for the rest of his life. What a dream.

"Chibi, I expected more sense of you." Ed blinked in confusion. "There is rarely a, "Perfect Couple." If you go on saying you don't want to meet anyone during your youth, then maybe no one will want to meet _you_. There's some things you need to practice in, chibi, love is one of them."

Ed looked away and snorted. "My match shouldn't like me for what I can do, but for who I am."

"I like you for who you are." Ed looked at Envy, shocked. Envy himself was pondering over his uncharacteristically soft words, but they got Ed's attention well enough.

Ed closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Looking back, he said with sincerity, "I can't say the same." Envy didn't look mad, but his eyes grew distant. He let go of Ed's hands and moved a step away from his previously pinned opponent.

He reached out and ruffled Ed's hair, to which he got no response. Ed had him fixed with an unreadable expression.

"Maybe in time, chibi. Maybe in time."

He walked away and mounted his bike, not bothering to put on the hair-tie and racing off down the street. Ed watched him go, almost feeling sorry. The green-haired teen seemed to be a little more interested in him than he'd thought.

Ed went and picked up his bag, puzzling deeply over the teen.

* * *

Act 3 - Wednesday - 4:45pm - On a major Highway  
...0...0...

He'd thought it was just lust. He'd passed it off as his playful nature. He didn't expect actual feelings to be hidden there.

Envy roared along the highway, not caring where he was going, as long as it allowed him to go fast. His hair tugged painfully at his head, more-so than usual since it wasn't tied back, but Envy paid it no mind. The air bit at his bare skin, but he was already too used to it.

Ed had confirmed the very thing Envy was going to do. Parade around with the younger teen as his 'boyfriend' and probably take the blond a few times, then leave him if he got bored. He figured that wouldn't be for a while, since the blond had captured his interest so hard, and thought no further than that.

He hadn't expected the blond to capture something much more critical.

Of all the people Envy had ever met, Ed was one of the most sincere. And he was innocent without being naive.

He was the type of person who wanted to have a serious relationship, not just play around, like Envy did. They were complete opposites. (AN: You know what they say about opposites..) Envy was seeing more and more qualities in the blond that made him pure, too pure. If he were ever to be discarded by someone, after he thought they were going to stay together forever and loved them truly, he would probably break.

'I don't know if I could be so dedicated. I'm not heartless, I don't need something like _that_ on my conscience. All the people I fool around with know we aren't serious. They know we won't be together for the rest of our lives.' Envy thought to himself. He felt a pang of regret, and some surprise. Now that he'd thought of it, he never had been in a serious relationship. He'd never actually loved before. Damn, he hadn't even been on a real date!

Was he _that_ scared of rejection? That he couldn't bring himself to put any real tie in someone?

If so, then the hurt he was definitely feeling from the chibi's last words must prove that he'd indeed placed some part of himself in the smaller teen. Ed probably had no idea. Envy was falling for someone in ways that he was unfamiliar with, and dammit, he wasn't appreciating it.

His rise sort of died, as he thought about those last words. Ed didn't like him, but that was understandable. Envy had underestimated the chibi, he never expected someone to be so.. Virtuous. Ed didn't appreciate his affections, and didn't want to associate with him.

That hurt.

Envy was staring at two metaphorical walls. One, which stopped him from wanting to like the chibi, because he may end up hurting the blond severely. Or vise-versa. And another wall, that prevented him from wanting to move on. There was something that stopped him from running away and continuing his carefree ways.

It was surprising that Envy was even considering the possibility of settling down with one person. Tame the wild beast? He would have thought it impossible.

Envy was at a loss. He had no idea what to do now. He wasn't supposed to be so indecisive, dammit!

His momentary rage caused him to veer closely to a car that had been rushing along beside him. A loud blaring beep and a domino-effect swerve got Envy's attention and he cursed. He kicked his speed up and raced on ahead, before the driver started to yell at him.

Envy was in a bad mood. A Very Bad Mood.

* * *

Act 4 - Wednesday - 10:18pm - Ed's Bedroom  
...0...0...

Ed had refused to think about Envy after he walked through the door of his house. Homework, time with his brother, practicing for the talent show, he'd managed to get through the evening rather well. But now with nothing to distract him, his thoughts returned.

Envy had been hurt. That much was certain.

Envy didn't seem the kind of person to just walk away like that without a good reason, and Ed was sure he caught something akin to pain in his eyes anyways. If Envy was just wanting to fool around, why was he upset by Ed's rejection? He wasn't before..

Ed gasped in realization. Before, Envy was playing a game. He didn't really feel anything for him! But maybe now... Maybe Envy had gotten too attached, maybe that wild teen had made a tie with Ed that he couldn't sever.

The fact that Envy was interested in him, and showing it, had made Ed blush to himself on more than one occasion. He was usually rather cold to anyone who tried to portray feelings to him. He never considered them to really mean it. He felt the same thing about Envy, even though no one had ever gone so far as him.

If Envy was hurt by Ed's rejection... Then, maybe his feelings were a bit more sincere than Ed was giving the teen credit for.

Ed snorted. Must be a bit of a shock to him. If that is indeed the case, and this only just recently developed, Envy must be surprised too. Ed figured that the teen hadn't planned to be so serious, and was probably unaware of his own feelings.

But did that mean that Envy did indeed feel something for him? Stronger than lust? Something more than playfulness? Ed wasn't sure.

He felt sort of bad for his comment. True, he couldn't see himself liking the teen the way a couple could, but it wasn't entirely truth that he didn't like the teen _at all._

Ed admired Envy for his complete lack of caring for what people thought of him. Ed was too self-conscious, and he wished he weren't. Envy had little shame, and although Ed was so proper and 'goody two shoes', he couldn't help but admire that too. Envy was just such a unique individual, that it was a rather nice change from all the alike people Ed saw so often. Envy was a breath of fresh air.

Ed blushed. It was also true that Ed couldn't honestly say he hated Envy's actions towards him. He felt embarrassment, anger, but those were such natural responses. Ed wasn't familiar with the kind of attention he received from Envy. It was a strange feeling that someone as.. 'wild' as Envy could like him. He felt the urges at the time, but afterwards, cursed his body for trying to act on it's own.

He didn't appreciate it, he only wanted someone he'd be serious with to be so familiar with him. But he couldn't disregard the fact that Envy's affections were.. alluring.

Ed sat up and shook his head. He could _not_ be thinking of Envy like that. If he didn't want Envy to touch him, didn't want Envy to like him, then why didn't he hate the other teen's affections more? Why didn't he fight against Envy more?

There was no way he could like Envy, was there? Wasn't it just his hormones, calling out for him to 'explore new territories'?

Ed flopped back onto his bed and raised his hands to massage his temples. He felt a headache coming on.. If he really did have some small like for Envy, more than just a scarce bit of admiration, then he could really end up hurting himself.

Ed didn't believe that the older teen could hold a serious relationship. He couldn't believe that Envy would stay with him.

'Argh!' Ed tapped himself harshly in the forehead. He didn't want to think of the older teen staying with him. He didn't want to like the teen! He didn't want Envy to like _him_!

Ed sighed at his predicament. The more he thought of Envy, the more confused he got. His actions seemed to show that he didn't hate Envy. His fear was that Envy couldn't hold a relationship if he wanted to be serious with Ed. Ed's problem was that he didn't want to like Envy, but he was finding it harder and harder to resist the temptations. Ed wasn't some sucker, he couldn't get roped into something completely by someone else's will. There had to be a part played by him, he was strong like that.

The logical solution was to observe, then act accordingly. Analyze his feelings for Envy over a short period of time, and determine what he really felt. Was it just hormones, or something else? At the same time, try to find out what Envy's feelings were. Was he correct in thinking that the other teen may have more than just a lustful eye on him?

Ed sighed at his own self-programming. He was a logical person, and through the confusion, the plan seemed to be a bit of a comfort. He was aware that he was opening his mind to the fact that he may actually like Envy, but then again, he wanted to be a scientist, and scientists had to have open minds.

So, he fell asleep holding on to the shred of light that was his solution.

To which our own comforts, ne?

* * *

Wow. So Envy is unsure whether to go on and try harder with Ed, or run away and continue to live carefree. Ed is settling for being open-minded, and observing both their actions. Both are scared of "Serious Relationship" becoming "Serious Failure". Seems these two have to find the courage to leap into the unknown, ne?

* * *

Act 5 - Friday - 8:29am - Havoc's Classroom.  
...0...0...

Thursday had come and gone quickly. Ed had been surprisingly eager to begin his 'solution', but had been equally surprised at his disappointment when Envy hadn't shown up for school that day. He turned the leaf and told himself that at least he'd have a day to calm down and relax in class. He did, and the day had gone by with little drama, but today was completely the opposite.

It was Friday, the day of the Talent Show!

The class was buzzing, most of the students were eager of the two last periods off, and the chance to see some free entertainment. The rest of the class either didn't care, or planned to leave. Ed was being constantly pestered for his act's details.

"Edo-chan, come on! Please tell us what you're doing?" Tia pouted, trying her best to weasel out the information. She was trying her best to lighten the teen's mood as well, he seemed pretty nervous. He was grinning slightly at his refusal to divulge the information, so she guessed it was working.

"You'll see what it is, only a few hours away!" He grinned. He knew she was trying to cheer him up along with getting the juicy prize of his act details, but his grin was mostly for show. He was dead nervous of singing in front of the school. He would have turned at the last moment and did something else, but Al made him promise, and Ed frankly had no idea what he would do if he did chicken.

Al had also made him promise to buy a tape of the show. The announcements yesterday had said that a few hundred tapes would be made for the whole show, and would sell for about 15 dollars. The information had greatly excited his little brother.

Ed wasn't the only one stubbornly keeping his act to himself, Envy was doing the same thing. His nervousness was being portrayed as irritation, and though Ed caught on to that quickly, not many other seemed to get it. Lucky for Envy.

The teen hadn't spoken to him yet. He wasn't avoiding eye-contact with Ed, no, he'd grinned at the chibi more than once, but he didn't bother or touch him. Ed was surprised at the change, but he didn't comment on it. Could it have been a way of distancing, or an attempt at making him more comfortable around him?

Maybe it was just the pent up anxiety of the Talent Show. Maybe Envy had some hidden stage fright, despite his eagerness to stand out.

In any case, the class went semi-smoothly for the first half. Most everyone was in bright spirits, and just a bit after 9, Scieszka saw that everyone was much too excited to get much work done. The sea of whispers was quite audible.

'Though they're all young adults, they still have that excitable quality in them', She said to herself with a soft smile. She announced that the work they were doing was now homework, and they could finish it now or do it at home and have the rest of the period to themselves as long as they were quiet.

The surprise free time was accepted happily, and about three separate groups of card-players blotched the room. Ed had been sucked into a game of poker with Marcus, Envy, and three other guys.

Scieszka was delighted at the happier mood of the room, and settled down to read a book for the rest of class. The day was sure looking bright, and she herself couldn't wait for the events of the third and fourth period-long Talent Show.

This was going to be fun!

* * *

Act 6 - Friday - 1:30pm - The Auditorium  
..0...0...0..

Ed's heart was beating so fast he thought it would break out of his chest. He'd never been to the auditorium before, and SHIT, it looked like a concert gathering!

The school held roughly 3000 students, and it was built for far more. No one had problems finding seats (though the incoming classes grade-by-grade were being matched to a certain area, so mass confusion didn't break out).

The show was scheduled to go at 1:45, that was in a bare 15 minutes. Ed would have had much more time to calm down and enjoy the show, but, he had been timed as one of the opening acts, and he was set to go as act 7. Lucky him.

The show was going to run for about just over two hours, with 38 acts going right after one another. There was no intermission, if students wished to leave for the washroom (or just to leave, as would be predicted), they could just go and come back if they were going to when they pleased. Principle Bradley figured that he didn't want anyone to be there who didn't want to be, and as if by reverse-psychology, most of the students showed up for the spectacle.

Students had been pouring in for the last half-hour, and Ed could tell that the population of the crowd was going to be way over 2000. He was going to sing in front of that many people...

Ed had found a source of comfort during the wait, and in the last thing he would have expected. Envy had found him somewhere a while back, and stood with him amongst the throng of participants. Everyone who didn't need to be backstage and cued was standing in an area off to the left of the auditorium, gathered and chattering excitedly. After you had completed your act, if you didn't want to leave immediately or if you didn't need to use the washroom or other reasons concerning props or such, you could go sit in the few rows of reserved seats where they were standing near now. Those seats were for retiring participators, and many who couldn't take the excitement were sitting in them now.

"Quite the commotion, ne?" Envy said to Ed, grinning and crossing his arms. He wore a similar outfit to the one he wore at the club last week, and the translucent black sleeves danced merrily and settled lightly on his folded arms. Ed wore a form-fitting red sleeveless and his usual leather pants.

"Yeah... I'm as nervous as hell.." Ed admitted, stepping subtly closer to Envy without realizing it. Envy took notice, but didn't say anything. He didn't admit it back, but he was feeling a little nervous as well. He wasn't afraid of being in front of people, and he wasn't worried about what they would think. But he was going to be.. Singing. It was just a completely different matter all together. He'd probably ever hear the end of it.. Oh well. Not like he didn't do enough outlandish things anyways..

The lights dimmed, and the volume of the room increased tenfold. A searchlight boomed on, and focused on two figures on the stage.

A pretty girl with extremely pink hair waved and called out into her microphone, "Hello, West Rain!" The gym exploded back a garbled version of some sort of greeting, and the other girl, tall and with long blond hair, put a hand to her ear and said slyly, "What was that? I can't hear you West Rain!"

The gym roared out again, in slightly better sync. The two girls laughed and continued their intro.

"Welcome to the Surprise Talent Show of 2006! Let's give Principle Bradley a hand for his wonderful present!" The blond said cheerfully. Screams and applause followed as Bradley walked onto the stage and waved. The pink-haired girl gave him a big hug and handed him the microphone.

"I welcome you to the Talent Show, and I hope you all will have fun! The next two hours have been specially prepared for you! Please enjoy the acts your friends and peers have come up with and will bravely show you! Enjoy!"

More applause and voices, it was so loud it seemed to echo in your head. The two girls once again took the light as Bradley walked off-stage, waving and smiling happily.

The first act was announced, and the audience was dazzled by a vicious opening display of two fencers mock-fighting to a dance-mix track. Ed was even left breathless at the amazing liquidity of the two. It was hard to believe it was choreographed.

Ten minutes and three acts later, one of the staff-members included in the background help paced along the small waist-high fence separating the participant area and seats to that side, with the rest of the gym. He called out in a voice that they would hear, but the rest of the gym wouldn't, "Acts five through ten! Five through ten, go on up!"

Ed's heart raced anew, he's be going on soon. With an almost hesitant look at Envy, he followed the other people included in the acts around the fence and up the stairs that would lead to the door to the farthest left of the stage. This was way off from the start of the curtain, so they would barely be noticed by anyone. Once entering backstage, he saw props, and people, and all sorts of equipment. Applause and screams signaled to them that the fourth act was over. Ed saw the curtains close from where he stood, and the person who had played the guitar walked off, wiping sweat from his brow. Ten people went to set up the props needed for the fifth act, doing a five minute job in under one.

The curtains opened again, revealing a small setting of a living room (chair, table, small carpet), with a single person in the chair holding a puppet.

Ed couldn't concentrate on the ventriloquist, all he could do was massage his hands and look nervously around. A short, black-haired teacher with a cheerful expression came up to him and said, noticing the paper clamped in Ed's hand with a big, black "7" on it.

"Seven, right? Here you go, please stand over there with act 6. You're on soon, best of luck!" He said, handing him a microphone. Ed was a little surprised at the weight, but it was nothing he couldn't handle, and he went over to join the three girls dressed up in cosplay outfits.

One, a girl with a wig on suggesting long-orange hair in pig-tails, grinned at him and said, "Aww! Are you going to sing! That's awesome!" She stuttered a bit, and her nervousness was quite apparent. Ed figured she was in tenth or eleventh grade.

When the ventriloquist went off-stage with much applause and laughter, the curtain closed and the background team whisked the setting away. The three cosplayers went and got into position giddily, waiting for the curtains to open. The curtains didn't open and close for every act transition, only the ones that required a scene change, so to speak. These three cosplayers had no further items than themselves, so when they went off-stage, Ed would be walking right on in front of over two thousand people.

Ed tried every possible way to calm down. He'd mess up his song if he didn't get a grip. He wondered briefly when he'd be given his cd back, since it had been requested yesterday and added to the Audio Run station set up not too far from him (all audio was being master-controlled from there). He then thought of Al, since it was actually _his_ cd. Al was looking forward to seeing him when he bought the tape, and darn it, he wouldn't let him down!

Filled with a new courage and finally eager to get on stage, Ed added 'gut-wrenching nervousness and excitement' to his list when the cosplayers left the stage cheering and laughing, with applause following them all the way.

**"And next, Edward Elric, singing for us, Returnable Memories!"**

_eep._

* * *

Whoo! Edo is about to go on!

**Kit:** That's horrible, leaving there.  
**Cat:** Nope, it has to have a clean slate! It's the Talent Show man!  
**Seira:** Now I'm all psyched! And I have to wait! Damn!  
**Cat:** Sorry guys!

Alright, Edo's about to go on for the two thousand plus audience, and he's dead-nervous! Let's hope he doesn't faint! XD

R&R!

Next Time:

Sin High

Chapter 11 - Songbirds - In the Limelight


	11. Songbirds In the Limelight

**Kit:** I am going to admit, that I'm kind of interested in this story.  
**Cat:** Really! OMG! You've _never_ liked my stories before!  
**Seira:** Go Kit! I totally love this more than you do though!  
**Kit:** You probably do..  
**Ragael:** (reads notes for future chapters) You've got some pretty weird stuff here, Cat. Well, whatever works! Rock it on!  
**Cat:** Hey! Ragael! Where'd you come from!  
**Ragael:** I noticed it was just you, Kit, and Seira in here, so I though I'd come hang out!  
**Seira:** (pats couch) Come here you cutie, just watch this chapter, I'm sure you'll love this story in time!  
**Ragael:** Um.. Okay...  
**Cat:** Hai! Let's get this musical ball rolling! On to notes!

**Cat Got**:  
An Envy and Ed figurine, Cheesecake, Basket of strawberries, Pizza, Lasagne (..O.o mmm...), Edible-Love (of a nekkid Envy having hot smex with an uke-Ed - **This I gotta share!), **Two cupcakes with sprinkles, Toast, 2 double chocolate chip cookies(still chewing on gold star from chapter 8)

Notes:**  
**1. For those of you expecting your average song-chap, you're gonna be surprised! I'm going to try and write the length of the song in a new way (doubtful on how new it is however... Probably see the style in Gravitation fics all the time -.-00) Eh. It's the thought that counts!

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 11 - Songbirds - In the Limelight

(AN: Attempts to read the song part and listen to the music at the same time will be compromised, it wasn't written to sync (especially not Envy's part), but you can try it if you like!)

* * *

_Ed tried every possible way to calm down. He'd mess up his song if he didn't get a grip. He wondered briefly when he'd be given his cd back, since it had been requested yesterday and added to the Audio Run station set up not too far from him (all audio was being master-controlled from there). He then thought of Al, since it was actually his cd. Al was looking forward to seeing him when he bought the tape, and darn it, he wouldn't let him down!_

_Filled with a new courage and finally eager to get on stage, Ed added 'gut-wrenching nervousness and excitement' to his list when the cosplayers left the stage cheering and laughing, with applause following them all the way._

_**"And next, Edward Elric, singing for us, Returnable Memories!"**_

_eep._

_

* * *

_

(omg.. I actually just got butterflies here.. honest to god actual chills...)

The walk from the backstage area to the front seemed like only a second. Before he knew it, Ed was emerging from behind the curtain to a sea of darkened faces. There were some opening applause for courtesy, but who Ed could only think had to be Tia and her friends were holding up a sign with "Go Ed!" from rather close to the stage and screaming. Ed gulped. Some people cat-called at his red muscle shirt.

He glanced over to his right at someone waving, and saw a senior with short black hair hold up three fingers.

Two.

One.

The general noise of the crowd died in a breathless hush as the mysterious beats of his song started up, Ed paced back a few steps to stall time, and smiled as they hit their crescendo and exploded into a rhythmic beat. Ed waited eagerly, swaying slowly and raising his microphone to his mouth.

_"Moeru you na yuugure ni terasareta senaka ni wa  
__samekitta te no hira wa todokanai-."  
_

He threw an arm out with the pulse, raising his eyes to the audience.

_"-Sukui age kudake chiru suna no kakera nanka ja  
futari wo tsunaida egao wo torimodosu-,"  
_

He raised his arm and sung out his passion in full,

_"-Koto sae dekinai!"_ The loud melodious beats were accented by Ed's movement, he spun around gracefully for the last two, and broke back into song with his astounding voice.

_"-Kanashimi ga kono mune wo eguru hodo no  
migite ni wa itami sae nai keredo  
ushinatta nukumori wo wasurenai  
sashi nobeta kono te ni wa kitto nanika-"_

His movements entranced the sea of students, no one would have imagined that the short blond boy who walked on obviously nervous would have been able to sing and dance like that. He stilled and fixed the audience with a deep look.

_"-Nokoshitemiseru."  
_

He paced back slowly, moving with the pausing piano beats. He was lost to the audience; he wasn't worried about them anymore. All he cared about now was how he moved, sang, and how much it would all mean to his brother.

His fluid movements, his smooth voice, his new confidence, it astounded the audience. One in particular.

Envy watched Ed with his mouth slightly open in shock. He couldn't take his eyes off the blond. What an amazing voice.. What moves..

Envy hadn't been overly confident for the chibi, he half thought that he was going to choke. Apparently not. Ed seemed to have tuned out everything but the song. 'Hm. Interesting tactic.' Envy thought. He felt some excitement as the crescendo kicked in, and Ed dazzled the audience with his pre-chorus. Envy's great eyes caught movement in the background, two people on the far right of the stage were slowly pushing up a small bucket, or something. Maybe some kind of machine. He briefly wondered about that, just as Ed was finishing the section.

_"-Kurushimi wo chikara ni mokaetemiseru  
Doko e itte mo.." _

Envy was just as shocked as everyone else as the haunting words echoed in an interesting display of remixing. This was an instrumental, and Ed's voice singing to it, but Ed had obviously pre-arranged someone to mix his voice at that point so it reverberated, slightly distorting with each round. But that wasn't that shocking part.

As the words chilled the crowd, Ed held his arms out and walked back into a quickly growing cloud of dry ice, also pre-arranged (so that's what those bucket/machines were for!) and disappeared. The music died to a calm rhythm with Ed's last words repeating, then suddenly a guitar solo picked up, rocking out with light streams crossing around. The dry ice started to fade away, and just as the guitar solo was ending, Ed was once again visible.

Ed soon glided smoothly into his chorus, and swayed as the piano once again played when he finished. Finally, the song died down and ended, Ed bowed gracefully as the last note hung in the air. It didn't hang alone for long, as it was immediately joined by an explosion of applause and screams.

Ed grinned ecstatically at the audience, and bowed again. He was relieved that they liked him, but he was eager to get off stage and take a breather. He walked off, waving and smiling, sighing a huge sigh of relief as he got backstage.

"Whoa! That was awesome!" Some guys (in tuxes) came up and greeted him. Ed felt light-headed and accepted the complements but eagerly made his way to the door that led back to the retired acts area. He was hot and sweaty (those lights were harsh!), and he _really _wanted to sit down.

He made his way down the stairs, and almost didn't hear the cheers of some people who'd spotted him over the announcing of the next act. He waved graciously, and walked over to one of the seats shakily.

Soon enough, a familiar wild-haired teen plopped down beside him, and threw an arm over his shoulder. Ed turned to look into Envy's eyes, but Ed was feeling too out of it to complain about his close proximity.

"Some singing! Chibi-chan's been hiding quite the voice!" Envy grinned. Ed felt a little rejuvenated by the comment. He briefly thought about asking Envy to move his arm, but that would really ruin the moment. 'And besides', Ed thought to himself with surprise, 'Maybe Envy needs some support like I needed from him before I went up.' He hadn't noticed it then, but he did now. If that was the case, Ed felt a little special that Envy wanted him for some confidence.

Ed looked at Envy and asked, "When are you going up?" His voice was a little breathless, he felt kind of tired after the exertion. Envy looked at him slyly. "A _friend_ of mine made sure that I was numbered as finale. I'll be going last." Ed's eyes widened. Wow. Finale was hard, the audience was probably at the end of their ability to sit for so long, and the last act would echo the strongest in most people's minds. It was a lot of pressure.

"What are you doing?" Ed asked. He really wanted to know what was going to be the thing that would be the strongest reminder of the Talent Show. And since it was Envy, ... It was going to be even more so a reminder..

Envy looked conflicted over whether he wanted to say, or let the chibi puzzle over it the whole time. Finally he shrugged and gave in, "Singing. Like you did."

It was Ed's turn to have his jaw drop. "_You're going to sing!"_ Envy chuckled.

"Is it that surprising? Good. I wonder how the whole school is going to take it." He sighed and watched the next act unseeingly. Ed wondered just how nervous Envy might actually be about this. He must have some guts to go and sing despite his reputation.

The ordeal must have taken more out of him than he thought (and being up most of the night in excitement didn't help either..), because soon enough, Ed was leaning against Envy, fast asleep. Envy was more than happy to let him, and honestly, found a lot of comfort in it. He refused to think too deep on it however, he didn't need to start questioning everything like he had yesterday. Now was not the time. He just enjoyed the feeling of Ed's warm, bare shoulder and cheek against his own slightly covered shoulder. Envy didn't mind that the blond was a little slick from sweat, in fact, he didn't mind it _at all._

Less than two hours later, Envy gently nudged Ed with his hand. Ed woke up and bleared sleepily at Envy.

"I'm up in a few." Ed breathed in deeply and stretched, cracking his back due to it's stiffness from his position. Envy got up and stretched as well, showing off his body to onlookers shamelessly. Even through the fog of his waking mind, Ed figured that Envy probably was doing that to show that he was not nervous in the least. Not truthfully, but it worked all the same.

He followed the other people being called up, but looked back at Ed before climbing the stage. Despite himself, Ed smiled and saluted two fingers from his brow. Envy smiled back at the reassuring gesture, and copied it. Envy didn't get to see, but Ed's surprised gaze followed him up the stairs. 'He's never smiled at me before..'

Thinking over his own mental statement, and reasoning that indeed, the older teen had only ever grinned or smirked at him (well actually, period. He'd never seen a true smile grace those lips). He shrugged the thought off and turned his attention back to the performance, which was a few girls dancing exotically, just barely keeping it to a school-approved level. Like the rest of the male population of the audience, Ed couldn't help but stared entranced at the sight. They were **good.**

A few acts later, and the two announcer girls walked in a bit onstage just so they were visible.

"Alright West Rain! You've almost made it through the whole Talent Show! What we have next for your Finale is quite the treat! I'm sure many of you have heard of him," The blond girl said cheerfully, if not amused.

"-and now you're going to hear **from **him!" The pink-haired one finished. "Singing Mirai for all of you, is Envy!" She felt rather awkward just saying a first name, but Envy's name was legally read as "Envy Envy", and saying it out loud sounded kind of odd (though when one thought about it.. It was kind of poetic. To envy Envy).

In any case, both girls were chuckling at the shocked response from the general audience. Most of the grade 11/12s knew about him, and many of the rest had head about him. And this infamous bad-ass character was going to _sing?_

Envy walked on stage appearing unabashed, holding his arms out and welcoming the audience. A third of the crowd applauded loudly, a third whispered or chatted excitedly at the occasion, some people booing, and the last third didn't know what to think either way.

"Alright you kiddies, shut up and be amazed!" Envy swung his arm in a wide arch and pointed at the teen that signalled the music acts start-up. A little shocked that _he_ was the one getting the signal, the senior hurried and started the song.

After the short upbeat intro, Envy's voice washed over the auditorium. Most everyone was still recovering from the shock of the wild senior singing in the first place, and just got knocked back down in realization how much _higher_ Envy's voice got when he sung. It shocked most of these people to realize that he actually sang **well**, too.

_"Akogareteta mono wa yume no mama da ne  
__Furikaereba itsumo boku wo yobu koe.-"_

The words seemed to suit, and yet not suit him. It was an entrancing combination. Was there more to this infamous guy than everyone knew?

Envy's movements were definitely bold, he moved and flowed with the beat and the words well.

_"-Mune no naka de hageshiku yureru,-"_ The pace picked up and Envy threw out his arms and walked forward, like he was to embrace the entire crowd metaphorically. _"-Mada ma ni au ka mo shirenai-."_

_"-Kao wo,-"_ he sidestepped to his beats now, _"-agete-"_,facing the crowd, he portrayed the confidence that his words were implying. _"-Jibun wo shinjite miru yo mou ichido!-"  
_

Which his chorus, his volume increased and the beautiful words and tune rolled along the sea of students like a wave in the storm. Anyone who knew him of knew of him had expected such a marvellous spectacle. The voice was unique, almost needing an acquired taste to enjoy, but was too brilliant for too many people to dislike. And to think this amazing singer was from their school..

By the time Envy had gone into the slower part of his song, then picked up again to the pre-chorus, most of the people in the auditorium had decided that Envy was a kick-ass singer. Ed, happened to be one of them.

'He's amazing!' The blond thought to himself. He would have never guessed that Envy had such a nice voice. It was high, but not feminine. It was the most intriguing thing he'd ever heard. He'd listened to the song before, by it's original singer, but Envy's version was by far better. The high voice in contrast to the lower one of it's original singer was quite the fitting change. Ed actually found himself more inclined to buy the copy of the Talent Show tape not just for his brother, but for himself, too.

Envy sung the chorus again, and this time, Ed distinctly heard some people singing with him. He smiled, and focused on the teen. He was swaying and moving at a quicker pace, syncing with the beat between the chorus and the last verse.

Envy was deep into his final verse, and Ed turned his head slightly in suspicion as, _"-Yubi sashita sono saki ni sugu ni iku yo-"_ (Ahead of where I pointed, I'll go there soon) was sung. Envy's hand had widely arched and stopped to the left, Ed swore, swore on his name that Envy had pointed at _him_. He didn't have much time to puzzle over it though, because the last words were sung, and hung in the air, with Envy's final gesture.

_"-Kagayaki afureru ayumu beki mirai e-" (_To the _future_ I must walk, overflowing with light). Ed's eyes were wide. His heart jumped into his throat and pounded with all it's might. Envy was, _unmistakably_, holding his hand out and looking directly at him. Ed's mouth gaped.

A few seconds and ending tunes went by. Ed was shocked. The song was for _him._ Envy wanted _him_ to be his future. He didn't entirely know what he was doing, but it seemed right. Ed raised his own hand, as if reaching out back to the teen on stage, illuminated by the lights and accented by his silk dress-shirt.

Many people followed the direction Envy's hand pointed in, and caught the blond that had earlier sang holding out his own hand back. The gym slowly picked up in applause, even before the song had ended. As the beats came to a close, and the applause picked up in volume, Ed made out the words through the uproar, watching the entrancing one who spoke them,

"It's not a game anymore. I've found my confidence."

Ed couldn't think, couldn't move. The applause roared out and the noise was like thunder. Everyone was getting up and laughing and cheering, ready to exit and end the school day. The final act was one that would replay in everyone's minds for a while.

Envy walked off stage to the cheers and relieved laughter of the crew, many sitting back, exhausted, from the last few hours that they'd been working. Some of the guys came over and congratulated the teen on a job well done. The final had been successful, and it certainly seemed to wake up the audience.

Envy grinned in his own relief. The song had gone perfectly. And he'd shown the chibi that he was serious.

That was the problem in the first place; that he couldn't believe Envy was going to be serious. For two days, Envy had thought about the topic. He found that couldn't turn away from the blond, and he didn't want to. If he wasn't accepted, if it didn't work out, if one of them got hurt, then that was life. It happened in relationships, and neither of them would get nowhere trying to avoid it. He doubted that what he felt right now was love, he found it hard to believe that something so strong was there yet, but maybe in time. If he was capable of it. He'd see in time. The question had been asked, with all the confidence and hope he could muster after a lifetime of avoiding it, and now, he had to wait for Ed's answer.

It was all up to him now.

* * *

**Cat:** Yay! Ooh, the tension's gonna build now!  
**Kit:** You're not leaving it there..  
**Cat:** I am! Hahaha!  
**Seira:** Oh my god... If you don't continue right now, _these _are going to my room and will stay there for the rest of my muse position time. (Holds up Envy and Ed figurines)  
**Cat:** **Noooo! **Alright! I'll continue you psycho! Gimme! (grabs) Darned muses...

* * *

**Songbirds - After the Show**

* * *

Ed didn't follow the enormous mass of students slowly moving towards the doors after the lights subtly filled the auditorium with light. 

No, he stood up and waited for Envy. He wasn't entirely sure why he was letting himself get so worked up, but one thing he knew for certain.

He had never felt so honoured in his life. The special feeling he got when Envy had held his hand out... Wow.

Ed had settled Wednesday night to keep an open mind. He wanted to see what Envy's true intentions were. He wanted to see what his own reactions and feelings would be. If Envy had concluded to like him, and be serious, the display in front of thousands of spectators certainly had helped. Ed knew that the swirling feeling in his stomach had to be a reaction to the event.

Finally, Ed saw Envy emerge from the door leading from backstage. It was darker in there than it was out here, and Envy squinted slightly at the brightness. Quickly adjusting to the light, Envy located the chibi, and felt something inside jump. If Ed was still there, apparently waiting for him.. Was this a good sign?

He slowly made his way over, nearly sauntering in his usual manner, but tried not to. He, for once, was going to try some tact.

"..." Ed looked down and blushed when Envy came over and stopped, not saying a word. "I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I've been thinking about it for a while now."

"As have I." Envy said, finding the blonde's shyness rather endearing. "I questioned myself about you, on a level I'd never subjected myself to." Ed was surprised at Envy's tone, and the words he spoke. He had not yet heard the older male speak so... Wisely.

"I know you want someone who is going to be serious, and stay with you for the rest of your life. It's a dream pretty much everyone has. I'm willing to try, if you are. Whatever happens after that, will happen." Ed truly saw a different side of Envy now. He wasn't all shameless badass, he had more complex feelings in his head then he let on.

".. Why me? Tell me why." Ed looked Envy straight in the eyes. The noise, and general motion and ruckus around them gone, all he focused on was Envy. Before, Envy hadn't been able to tell him, but he'd better now. Ed needed him to.

".. You're something I haven't encountered before. I thought I'd seen every kind of person." He crossed his arms and cocked his head. "But you're.. so much more. I can see myself with you. Not in the way I ever have been before. ... Seriously bonded. That's it. You know Edo, there _has_ to be something about you, you have to be something special... 'Cause right now I feel like a sap, spewing out my soul like a bad romance novel..." Envy closed his eyes and thinned his lips, kicking himself for letting his big mouth say more than it needed to. He cracked an eye open and looked down to see Ed chuckling ever so lightly.

'He's trying at least..' Ed thought to himself. He sighed deeply, rather lost at the moment, though he was smiling. It was true that he had his dream of 'the perfect partner', but deep down, perfection probably wasn't possible. Envy was trying, and it was cute to think that someone as infamous as him was tip-toeing around him now. He really seemed to turn his feelings around since the blond had seen him on Wednesday. To be honest, he had actually been stuck in Ed's mind like the plague as well.

Ed looked back up at Envy, catching the well-hidden anxious look. The more he thought about it, the more Ed could feel himself being won over. Envy had his flaws, but then again, who didn't?

"Envy, I need to think about this. Long and hard. Can you wait for me?" Envy snorted. Silly question.

"I'll wait." He said. His mouth curved into an attempted smile, for the moment and all, but his trademark smirk managed to worm it's way in there as well.

Ed turned and walked away. Excitement with doubts, happiness with fear. Yes, this was going to be quite the night.

Edward Elric left the school with his head held high.

* * *

**Cat: **NOW I'm finished.  
**Seira:** Aww... But I can't argue. That's a good stop point.  
**Kit:** Yeah..  
**Cat:** I hope this isn't too fast, but I needed to start the fireworks..  
**Kit:** If you make a "screamer" joke I'll murder you..  
**Cat: **But I like screamers… They're so loud- 

(SMACK)

* * *

I'll see You next Time, on 

Sin High

Chapter 12 - Birds of a Feather - **The Deciding Chapter**

**Dun Dun Dun! **

R&R!


	12. Birds of a Feather

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

Wowie, just look at that list… (whistle)

Cat Got from the (very much loved) Reviewers:

Pink Edible Panties (O.o...)  
Neko!Ed Plushie (huggles!)  
Chocolate Muffin w/ chocolate sprinkles, chocolate cream filling, and icing  
Cookies and brownies  
Rolaids (-.-00)  
Fried chicken  
500 gold stars (Nu! Mine's not unique anymore! .. wait.. my first one has chew marks in it. It's still special!)

Kit: You're special. -.-00

Double the strawberries  
Brownie (and yaoi love!)  
3D glasses and Pie  
Bouquet of flowers  
Pile of chocolate on my head, then a dump truck of chocolate on my head plus slushies (the medical bills were paid for by selling off the very same chocolate. Fortunately, I was able to update in very good time despite!)  
A bird. (O.O chews?)  
A platter of cookies, A cake, A Ed plushie, an Envy plushie, a 100 dollar check, and a trophy that says, "To the writer of the best fanFiction I've ever read ( and all from the same person!)  
Snappy the Goldfish (pops in the flower vase with the flowers. Very pissed off bird from a few lines up peers at it in interest.)  
A whole movie on just Envy and Ed with lots of loves (Watches with vigor!)  
A broken pencil (This was so random it got an appearance in the chapter. No, seriously.)  
A Cookie  
Gift basket of otaku goodies (Seira stole my muse cookies!)  
Kumagorou plushie and an Envy headband (Kuma! ... I'm on the lookout for Gravvie guys now.. Ryu can't have my Kuma..)  
Seafood gumbo (I have never heard of this, but I eat it with gumbo! I mean.. gusto!)  
Green hair dye (Thanks T-chan, lets hope it works this time!)  
The Ultimate Tasting Sushi in the World (plus a free toaster!)

I know it's long and some people may harp me for it, but I love this section, and it's amusing as hell to read, so why not?

To Specific Reviewers:

KatYoukai - Thanks for suggesting a beta, but I'd rather work alone. A speelihng errar ohr too dousen't buug mi mucgh. It'd slow me down in any case.. -.-0. Thanks though!  
Kiriga - Wow. Thanks! I'm flattered right outta my seat! I hope the shaking isn't anything serious, however. Chronic Excitement? XD

Shout out for Labradoodle who wrote "Please update for chapter 12..." 72 times plus a 73rd "Please." Congrats, that was an eye opener (the cut and paste buttons have never been happier XD). If anyone attempts to do this again however, I am going to cry. XXXDDD

Kit: .. You realize you're a total loser for counting that out.

Cat: Cool was never my thing. (hair flip)

* * *

Sin High

Birds of a Feather - The Deciding Chapter

* * *

Ed glanced at his clock.

_2:57am Saturday_

He sighed.

He'd been thinking of Envy since he left school. He was sure that soon enough, the green-haired teen's image was going to be burned in his mind forever.

Ed had come up with his conclusion, and was rather reflecting on it now. Again.

'Most everyone dates. Most everyone gets their practice shots at love and relationships.' These thoughts echoed in Ed's head. If this didn't work out, then it was definitely a learning experience. 'You have to fail sometimes to succeed, anyways.'

Hesitance held him back at first. ''What if you tried and it fell apart?' But the possibility still remained.. 'What if you tried and it worked?'

After careful reflection of himself around the older teen, he added his own feelings to his bout of philosophy.

There was no way Ed could say he didn't like the attention. Now that he looked back on it, he may not have appreciated it, heck, he was probably scared of it, but.. It was a nice feeling now. That someone actually liked him?

_"I like you for who you are." _

Envy had said that. It made him wonder. Maybe Envy's constant affections had been his unspoken way to proclaim his interest.. Not just in the blonde's body, but him. Maybe not at first, but after time went on. It was possible that the changes in the older teen's emotions were going on, hidden in his own head only.

Ed smiled. It was interesting to think that Envy may not be good with showing his feelings. Rather cute actually. One wouldn't even consider hidden feelings and such when first meeting him. He just wouldn't let anyone think him 'weak' like that.

But he was opening himself up to Ed.

_"But you're.. so much more. I can see myself with you. Not in the way I ever have been before. ... Seriously bonded."  
__  
_So he had never truly loved?

Ed rolled over, turning away from the ever-present light of his clock.

'He told me that his parents were long past away. He's probably never been loved, truly, by someone else. Maybe he never let them. Is he really looking to me and hoping I can love him?'

To be together for as long as Ed dreamed.. To love and care, to always protect... That's what he'd wanted. And then Envy, the opposite of everything he'd expected for himself, popped into the picture. Ed, for some unexplained reason, could see himself with Envy. It felt right. Some part of him told him that it shouldn't, but the rest of him beat that part with a stick. Somehow, the aggressive, over-zealous, shameless, ... lonely... teen had made his way deep into Ed's heart.

'Some things are probably best left unexplained.' Ed thought. 'I don't know everything about him yet. There are probably more things about him that I'll have to pull through, but so much more that I can greet with open arms...'

To try and grow old with him?

To love unconditionally?

'Sure, I'll try.'

'I'll love you Envy.'

* * *

_I'll embrace the unknown with open arms... Hope to fly, and believe that falling, will just be a better chance to jump back up.  
__I won't fear failure, and I won't fear the unknown.  
__I will continue my path, whatever it is, and find that which I was meant for. I won't be stopped.  
I will fly,  
__I will look ahead.  
I will fly,  
__And keep an open mind.  
__I will fly,  
__Like a _Bird.

- I wont just fly in my dreams, - Birds of a Feather

* * *

"Nii-san! You're wasting the day!" Al called from downstairs. Surprisingly, he wasn't cleaning, but sitting in the living room armchair, reading a book and enjoying the warm sunlight that touched warmly on his skin through the window.

Noticing that his brother still wasn't up, he called out his ritual weekend 'wake-up call'. Eventually, Al heard a highly muffled moaning sort of response. He sounded very tired.

'Nii-san must have been working on something last night. Maybe I'll let him sleep in.' He giggled to himself, and went back to his book. He'd stay on alert for when his brother woke up again and did his normal morning things, and Al would go and prepare a quick Brunch for him. (It was already ten in the morning!)

Absorbed into his book, sunlight strewn across him, he made quite the cute picture.

Say 'Aww.'

* * *

"Get out of the damn store, you gay BASTARD!"

"Why don't you FUCKING **MAKE ME!"**

Ed had gone out to do a little shopping, he needed some new clothes. Well, not _needed, _necessarily. More like _wanted_. Need was for more important things, like food, or hygiene products, or-

Oh. Oops.

Ed had secretly hoped he would bump into Envy at some point during his trip, he was rather eager to inform the teen of his decision. He'd bumped into him alright...

Two seconds in the "Hawt Tactics" clothes store, and he'd heard him, everyone within a mile must be able to.

"We don't need slimy gay assholes like you messing up our stuff here, we don't do business with you!" A late-teen-early-twenties store clerk guy yelled at Envy. He spoke bravely, and leaned over the counter that separated the two.

"I've been coming here since before you WORKED here! I'm not leaving just 'cause YOU want me to." Envy said angrily, offended and pissed off at the nerve. He was two second away from snapping. And he'd been in a good mood too. Probably the only reason the clerk wasn't **dead **yet..

"Well, I'm **here** now, so get the fuck out! I'll call security on your stupid ass!" Envy was ready to hop over the counter and beat the guy's face right through the back of his skull, but couldn't as two arms wrapped around his own right arm and Ed practically ran him over, yelling "Wait Envy!"

Envy was utterly taken aback as Ed looked up at him, panting from his sudden dash to save Envy from some big 'Mall Security' kind of trouble. He blushed, realizing his closeness, and slowly unwrapped his arms and backed away, grinning nervously and scratching the back of his head in awkwardness.

"What's this, your little faggy boyfriend? You guys f-" Envy turned and socked the guy in the face so hard from his side of the counter that the clerk banged into the shelves behind him and knocked over a ton of things with the harsh impact. With a pissed-off snort, Envy slapped his hands down on the counter and made as if to continue the fight, but Ed called his name again.

"Chibi, I'm a little busy here..." Envy growled, glaring at the fallen clerk (knocked for a loop for the next two weeks or so..).

"Envy come on.. I don't want you to get in trouble.." Ed said. Envy looked conflicted as to whether to ignore him or toss the whole ordeal. "Come on. Come with me.." Envy's focus at that point tore away from the clerk to Ed in a second-shredding heartbeat, eyes wide.

Ed held the look, his expression unreadable. Well, he got the wild teen's attention all right..

Envy snorted and pushed away from the counter moodily. "You're not worth my energy anyways." With his nose in the air, he just less than stomped away, but hung back enough so he could see where Ed was going. Before they made it wordlessly to the store entrance (amidst stares and gawking), a short, rather squat man dressed in black rushed up to Envy.

"Envy-sama! I am so very sorry! My employee will be taught some manners immediately!" Envy looked away and placed his hands on his hips. He was such a regular customer in this particular store; it was where he got all his flashy clothes. The manager knew him by name, obviously by his statement, and Envy's frequent visits made him a LOT of money.

"All the manners in the world won't help that little shit. If he's here the next time I walk through these doors, expect to never see me again. I'll start a fight before I go though, as a goodbye gift." He grinned maliciously at the store manager. The man bowed and spoke quickly.

"I'll see that he is removed from the store's staff immediately! This will never happen again! Gomen-nasai!" Envy smirked at the bowed man. People suckering up to him really did wonders for his mood.

"See that it doesn't." He turned and walked through the doors, not giving any indication that he very much enjoyed the shocked look on Ed's face. Without a word yet, he crossed the traffic area of the mall to get to the ice cream stand built in to the other side.

"Want anything?" Envy asked a still-speechless Ed. Envy ordered a sundae of sorts as he dug out a thin wallet from the pocket of his tight leather pants. Ed just shook his head in bewilderment and muttered, "Small vanilla cone.."

The teenaged girl serving them smiled and tried to hide her amusement. She'd seen most of the spectacle from where she stood. The mall wasn't overly big, or very crowded at the moment, and it had been quite the scene. A cheerily affirmative on the orders and she went to fix up the respective snacks. (AN: I don't like that word. Shnahxz. Grr. I just don't like random words, and that's one of them. Sorry, continue please!)

Not a minute later, Equivalent Exchange was settled when desserts for money was respectively given. The two went and sat down at a little table for two near the ice cream outlet.

Neither one said anything at first, but the alluring sugar-filled hunk of ice they both had probably had something to do with it. Ed decided to break the silence after a few tentative licks of his snack. (AN: SHNAHX! XD)

"Ano... I guess you go there often?" He asked slowly. Envy nodded. "That greedy bastard would be out a few hundred or so a month if he lost me." Ed stared wide-eyed. "What? I donate my old shit once I can't get in my room anymore.." Ed couldn't help but laugh at that. Envy smiled a bit at his little victory.

"I've thought about it." Ed stated quietly. Envy raised his head a little. He'd been waiting all night and day for Ed to say that. But the next part is the one that counted..

"I'll give this a try." He didn't look Envy in the eyes, but the older teen saw the blush that kissed his cheeks. He ginned a little at the shorter teen. Ed looked up to the expression. A little devious..

"But, I want to go slow. Please don't rush me, Envy." Ed searched the other's eyes for a hint of assurance.

The corner of Envy's mouth heightened in a lop-sided grin. "I love when you say my name." Ed jerked a little, blush returning slowly. But..

"I'm not going to be an easy lover, Ed. I can only restrain myself so much. I'll try, for your sake, but you're just so tempting." Envy leaned back and crossed his arms, looking up at the mall ceiling. "I guess I'll just have to wait, and chain my passion!" He said over-dramatically. Ed looked away in embarrassment, but smiled to himself. Really.. It was just a few days ago that Envy was giving him unwanted attention, but now... It seemed so much more natural than Ed had even thought.

Envy peeked at Ed. Boy, he was adorable. With a sudden, overwhelming curiosity, he unfolded his arms and reached one across the table, looping a finger in a surprised Ed's low-cut collar. Before the blond could react, Envy pulled his collar down enough so that most of his right shoulder was visible. He grinned widely as the barely-visible mark there.

"Envy!" Ed said exasperatedly. He tugged his shirt back into it's proper place, and glared. He wasn't going to get used to this directness very easily..

"What? I wanted to see if it was still there." Envy said, shrugging. He slipped a spoonful of his sundae into his mouth like he'd never moved in the first place. Ed peered at him out of the corner of his eyes. Truth be told... He was almost sorry it was fading. He'd hated the mark at first, but ever since the first thoughts about, _them,_ well, let's say he almost liked to think of it as a reminder that he was walking an unforgettable journey.

He was poetic like that.

Envy looked at Ed's nearly-forgotten cone, and pulled the small plastic spoon out of his mouth. He looked slyly at the blond.

"Ne, Edo. Can I try some?" Gold eyes locked on violet. "No. You have your own, and besides, mine is plain vanilla. It's not much compared to that." Ed said semi-coldly ('scuse the pun..), referring to Envy's rather glamorous (half-eaten..) sundae with all the fixings.

Envy looked down at his snack (AN: **SHNAHX PIXIES!)** with disinterest. "Maybe so," He looked up at Ed with a gleam in his eye. "But you haven't been licking mine, have you?" Ed jerked up in his seat at the blatant question. He was embarrassed; he felt his face heat up all the way. He was just so...

"If we're going to be together, I may as well act the part... I guess..." Ed muttered, almost to the point of being inaudible. Envy only caught half the words, but got the general idea. With a sultry grin, he accepted the hesitantly offered half-gone ice cream cone. Ed felt shivers roll down his spine when Envy's fingers brushed against his.

Ed didn't really notice he was staring until it was too late. Envy took a long, deliberately slow lick, reveling in the chibi's bewildered attention. He licked his lips and winked at Ed. It was only then that the younger teen realized his own fascinated gaze, and tore it away with an embarrassed snort.

Envy offered the treat back, and Ed slowly took it. He looked at it with mostly-feigned distaste, and tried to save some face for himself.

"You slobbered all over it." Envy chuckled. "I don't slobber chibi. You're so unromantic."

Ed made a, "ffftt" kind of noise through his teeth, like a choked laugh. "Neither are you."

Envy leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "You just don't appreciate me." Ed didn't really know what to say at that point, so he didn't reply and took a small lick of his cone.

Ed finished the rest of his treat in silence, and Envy seemed to space out in the moment or two that it took. Ed reached back and threw the little napkin that came with his cone in the trash. Envy caught the movement and snapped back into a more usual position.

"You didn't finish it." Ed commented, looking at Envy's half-eaten sundae.

"I don't usually. You want it?" Ed slowly shook his head no. Envy shrugged and got up to throw the rest out.

Ed got up as well. He didn't quite feel like doing some clothes shopping anymore (and besides, that guy in the store was probably still there, recovering from his fall and the fact that he was being, "relocated").

"I, guess I should get going." Ed spoke. Envy looked at him, cocking his head a little. "You're not buying clothes? What were you in the store for?"

"I _was_ going to get clothes. I don't quite feel up to it anymore."

"You want to come over to my place? We could have a movie night." Envy chuckled at his own suggestion, feeling a little bouncy from the ice cream. Ed threw a suspicious glance at him, but didn't try to read too deeply.

"Not today." No, he still needed a little more time to catch up with everything. This all seemed to happen so _fast.._

Envy stuck his lip out a bit in a half-pout that Ed didn't see, but mended it quickly when the next two words followed. "Maybe.. Tomorrow.."

A thoughtful expression met Ed's uncertain ones, but his eyes were bright with a bit of excitement. It was starting, their new, fragile, relationship.

To new heights, soar on your wings, boys!

* * *

**Cat:** ... I was going to stop here...  
**Seira:** (chomping on muse cookies) Were you...  
**Cat:** (crying) It's not even her this time... I stopped there to check reviews for anything to be noted... When one realizes they got nearly 50 reviews in one chappie, and a huge list of gifts... It's rather hard to just spit out a short one like this.. Well, here we go, you guys earned the next part..  
**Seira:** Half. Next half. Double this, you're totally going to have to surprise everyone now.  
**Cat:** .. I don't know who's worse.. you or Kit...  
**Kit:** ... Can I have the plushies? You got like, 5..

(Edit in: I wrote a lot more than half! I TRIPLED this chapter's length!)

* * *

Birds of a Feather - The Deciding Chapter - Part 2

* * *

(This whole, Part 2 fad is a great way to time space...)

Sunday. He was going to spend the later half of his Sunday with Envy.

With a lent broken pencil (XD) and napkin from the ice cream girl, Envy had offered his phone number to Ed before they parted ways. He'd used the small item a few hours ago when he called up the wild haired teen.

Agreements and some humor tailed the conversation, and soon enough, Ed was planning to go over to his new boyfriend's house at 7.

New boyfriend.

New Boyfriend...

_Neeeewww Bbboooyyyyfffrrriiieeennndddd..._

It seemed to alien to him to think of the term in his mind. Never mind out loud.

Al was more or less assured that Ed was going over to his 'new _friend's' _house for a sleepover, and would be leaving directly for school from there. Yes, Envy had managed to goad Ed into staying overnight.

So, Ed was currently sitting in the living room on the couch, waiting for his ride. Apparently, Envy lived "Further away than walking time was needed", to quote. So, much against his better judgment, Ed was anxiously dreading his impending ride (of doom) on Envy's motorcycle.

Soon enough, the roar of the small vehicle was heard. Al, who was politely waiting with Ed, frowned.

"Niisan.. Wasn't that the guy.. Who you were telling me not to let in the house anymore?"

"Yeah, Alu, but it's alright. We've.. Made up since then." Ed smiled and ruffled his younger brother's short blond hair. This seemed to sooth the other teen, and he waved his brother off cheerfully. Ed felt a little guilty at not telling his brother the whole story with him and Envy, but he definitely would when he was more comfortable with the subject himself. He trusted that his brother would be open and understanding. Mostly.

Shutting the door behind him, he looked out at the familiar machine. It suited Envy very well. They were both sleek, loud, and dangerous. Ed saw that Envy was wearing his usual tank top and skort (did he ever take that top off?)

He hoisted his backpack on his shoulders and walked down the front path to the street. His bag was heavier than usual, but only because he had added an extra shirt to change into for school tomorrow, and other such sleep over items (can't go anywhere without your handy-dandy toothbrush!).

"Ready to ride, chibi?" Ed half-heartedly told him to not call him that, but didn't put much effort in it. The name was more inclined to it's "cute" meaning, not an insult to his height.

"Front or back, _Edo_." Envy said, stressing the last part with a wide smirk.

"... There are still no helmets..."

"Maa, Edo, we're not going to crash. I know how to ride this thing."

"... Everyone says that up until they do crash. Not wearing a helmet is going to bite you in the rear someday."

"Maybe, but I'm careful when you're on."

"Careful! You called that crazy dash at illegal speeds _careful_?"

"Yes."

"You're not right in the head."

"Or so I'm told."

Ed got up close and once again had to decide on the front of the back. He almost went for back, but still didn't trust his ability to hold on (given the sheer madness of Envy's driving skills).

He got on the front after Envy had gotten off, and blushed brightly as Envy settled on himself around the blond. Ed felt both comforted and nervous of Envy pressed right up against him.

He didn't get much time to mull over his insecurities, as Envy raced forward, making Ed grab on to the mid-handle bar with a small cry of surprise.

"You got to love this to some degree, Edo, the rush is amazing!" Envy said over the wind. Ed was squinting and just concentrating on his hold. He knew it was only Envy's body that was keeping him on, he was practically sitting in the other's lap (Blush), but he felt like his hold would help him stay on in some small way.

"I get different kicks than you, Envy! And personally, I don't like wind!" Ed managed to say back, almost having his words torn away by said wind.

"Aww, you're no fun!" Envy screamed forward suddenly and pulled in front of a car, making them squeal their brakes on and fall back. There wasn't anyone else on the side street, but it could still have been dangerous.

"Waaahh! Envy! Don't do that! You could have made that guy crash!" Ed tried to move and check behind them, to make sure the car was alright. Envy lightly pushed him back with his outstretched arm.

"Don't squirm around chibi, leave it for at home." Ed sat stalk-still and made no move to answer. His eyes were as wide as his blush was. What nerve...

All too soon, thankfully, Ed was able to feel solid, motionless ground beneath his feet. Envy was walking his bike into the garage, and Ed took the opportunity to have a look at the house.

It wasn't overly-large, but well more spacious than a single person needed. There was no garden, and the grass looked hacked and uneven, like the tender only dug their lawnmower out every few years or so and dragged it around backwards half-heartedly. Which was probably the case...

From what Ed could see from the windows, the house was not neat at all. Albeit, the setting sun was washing everything in a soft golden glow, so it may just be his eyes.

Soon enough, Envy came around and walked Ed up to the small porch. He pulled a key out from behind the top hinge, and stuck it in the keyhole. Hmm.. Interesting spot.

After they got in, Envy showed Ed to the living room, which looked like it had been nice and tidy once, but was now rather messy and unkempt.

"You don't clean often.. Do you?" Ed commented.

"Nah, I don't have people over often. And when I do, if they care enough about the mess then I tell them they can clean it up for me." The taller teen said, slinking into the kitchen. The two rooms were close to each other, but the wall that would have cut the two rooms had a huge rectangular window in it, so the kitchen was easily seen from the living room and vise-versa. Ed looked around, seeing that the floor consisted of the living room, front hall, kitchen and some rooms further back. He could see stairs too, and that obviously led to the second floor. The house was bigger inside than it looked from the outside..

"Here." Envy tossed him a soda after the blond had sat down on the couch, and cracked his own open. Ed cracked his open as well, but made sure it didn't explode after being thrown to him.

"So, what movies did you have in mind?" Ed asked, trying to start conversation. Envy took a long swig of his can after he plopped down in his armchair, and swallowed.

"Well, I don't have anything I think you'd be interested in, so I thought we'd just go to the movie store down the street from here and rent." Envy replied, shrugging and getting out of the chair. Ed frowned, snidely asking "What kind of movies," in a tone that did not suggest naivety.

Envy grinned at him and replied silkily. "Nature documentaries." Ed blushed at the hidden meaning, and tore his eyes away from the older male. (AN: That's **alpha** male, to you, chibi!)

Not ten minutes later, Ed found himself in the humble video store Envy had mentioned. The store owner was looking at Ed with interest. He knew Envy rather well, renting him movies for years now, and he had a good start of an idea about what the short blonde's relationship with Envy had to be. The wild teen wasn't exactly the type to have random younger (admittedly cute) guys with him just for a hang-out purpose. Not that Envy made a habit out of having random younger guys with him for unclean reasons, just that it didn't happen at _all,_ and seemed out of character. (AN: I hope that all came out right..)

"What should we get? Do you like action?" Ed asked, peering at the newname titles. Despite his scientist-goal and logical thinking, he still enjoyed his share of the proofless nonsense supernatural movies that tended to be so popular. (AN: Hey.. I like those..)

"Action? Yeah.. I like action.." Envy smirked at his tone. Ed narrowed his eyes but they didn't hold any anger. The store manger chuckled, though he wasn't hoping the two were going to hang around and chat like that for too long. Envy made him slightly nervous in any case, despite knowing him so long.

Finally, Ed picked out a good movie that seemed interesting enough, and Envy saw no problems with it, so they took it to the counter and Envy paid for it. Ed was going to buy himself a few sweets, but Envy beat him to it and paid for them too (as well as some for himself!).

The walk back hadn't been all that exciting, except that Envy tried to (temporarily) steal Ed's lollypop, and failed. He hadn't tried all that hard in the first place, but it was cute none-the-less.

Back at the house, after kicking off shoes and socks (or sandals and no socks in Envy's case), Ed commented about how Envy should clean up more often after he almost slipped on one of Envy's discarded skorts (how or why it was in the living room Ed didn't know nor want to know).

"Mah, too much trouble." Envy grinned, passing the subject off. He cleared the couch of any items (sock, magazine, cd case, another sock, cookie) and went off to make popcorn. Ed shook his head in amusement, and sat down on the cleared furniture.

"Ne, do you want to tour the house? I'm gonna make a bunch of stuff in here, I'll be a few." Envy called from the kitchen. Ed called back a "Sure", and got up.

Like earlier mentioned, the front hall, kitchen, and living room made up the front half of the lower level, and the back half opened up entirely to the stairs, bathroom, closet, backyard, and a would-be sun room. Ed saw a computer in there, but it was covered in dust and looked like it was only half-set up.

"I didn't know you had a computer." Ed said loud enough for Envy to hear.

"I bought one to see if I'd like it. Stupid thing is too complicated, it's been sitting there for over a year now." Ed just blinked a few times at that. The startup manuals were splayed out on the floor haphazardly.

'Ohh kay...' He thought to himself. He went back and slowly climbed up the stairs, finding two bedrooms, a second bathroom, a second closet, and an office-turned-'anything that wouldn't fit in the rest of the rooms'-room.

He returned back downstairs and went into the kitchen. Envy was making popcorn and a party bowl of chips and stuff. He spied a bottle of soda nearby.

"You're going all out." Ed joked, and leaned against the doorless-door frame while crossing his arms. Envy smirked at him.

"Just something to last the movie."

Soon enough, it was almost dark outside, and the golden haze that blanketed the sights out the window soon faded to a dull mess of shadows. Envy had just finished his short preparations, and was carrying the bottle of pop, bowl of party mix, and the bowl of popcorn over to the table in the living room.

Ed followed slowly, picking up the movie in the process. He went over to the tv, turned it on, and popped the movie into the dvd player. It started up, but the screen didn't change. Envy was about to switch it to the correct mode, but thought otherwise as he dashed off to 'nature's call'. Ed chuckled, but saw what probably triggered the need, for on inspection of the tv, a waterfall was crashing in the background of what seemed to be a nature show.

"Ne, Envy, I think they're replaying one of your movies on tv!" Ed called playfully, referring to Envy's earlier joke of owning documentaries. He got a muffled, "shaddap" from the bathroom, and chuckled again. He went over and sunk into the comfy armchair and waited.

Soon enough, Envy rejoined and jumped over the back of the couch to land harshly on the soft pillows. He stretched out fully, and just barely caught the last sentence of the tv show's narrator.

"-male is searching for a mate, he wi-" Envy threw a wide grin at Ed, who had been half-watching the show, and said with a sly tone, "Hey Edo, wanna mate?"

He laughed at the blonde's bewildered gasp, and obvious embarrassment. Ed caught on soon enough that Envy had been joking, and sent him a trademark glare.

Envy picked up the remote and switched the tv to the correct mode needed for the dvd-player to show it's picture. The commercials had already run by, and it was looping on the menu screen. The green-haired teen hit "enter", and discarded the remote and leaned against the couch-back.

"Ne, Edo, if you want to join me over here, feel free." Ed blushed at the thought of curling up with the older teen, and shook his head in a negative. He pulled his legs up and sat on them, shifting until he was comfortable in the large chair.

The movie started, and Envy decided to just enjoy it and not feel disappointed over the lack of close company. He was going at Ed's speed, after all, so he would just have to wait. He flexed one more time, and settled himself down, slipping an arm under the small pillow at the arm of the couch, and resting his head on it. His bare feet barely touched the opposite arm.

* * *

The movie was very interesting; Ed had been glued to it. The sheer blasphemy of the situations was enough to make his scientific-thinking go haywire, but he ignored it for the 'movie-magic' appeal.

Currently though, the movie had died down to a poorly placed wind-down part, and Ed was still rather excited from the last action-pack scene. Without fully realizing it, his thoughts drifted off to Envy, stretched out in all his glory on the couch, looking rather disinterested in the scene as well.

'He always manages to surprise me.' Ed caught himself thinking. He completely zoned out from the movie. 'So many times now, Envy has been able to catch me totally off-guard. No one else has been able to do that so often, and I've only known him for a few weeks!' Ed smiled to himself. 'To think that we've only known each other that long and now we're trying to build a relationship.' Suddenly, a combination of the exiting movie and the just _slightly_ less than warm air spurred an impulsive thought in the blonde's mind.

'He does manage to surprise me often, doesn't he? Well.. if I... He wouldn't expect it.. Heh, Envy, I'm finally going to get my chance to surprise _you _now..'

Ed, with the bold little plan in his mind, got up slowly and left the armchair. Cool night air swirled around his half-exposed arms. Envy didn't have much time to register the movement, because before he knew it, Ed had joined him on the couch.

...0...

Ed put his hands on the pillow and lowered himself down, rolling a half-foot and lightly stopping up against Envy. The older teen was quite taken back by the action.

"Edo?"

"... This is alright, isn't it?"

Ed had stiffened up slightly, though he had to admit that the warmth flowing over him through his clothes and Envy's near-lack of felt nice. Envy got over his shock pretty quickly.

"It's more than okay." Envy grinned. He moved his arm so that Ed was half-lying on it as a pillow, and his hand reached over and lay it's self on top of Ed's smaller one. His other arm slowly wrapped around and lay motionless over Ed's waist. The shorter teen didn't move through this, and just reveled in the amount of electric jolts that were racing up and down his spine. Lying like this with Envy was so... Nice...

Envy pressed his lips to Ed's hair and whispered, "I'm glad you came over." Ed shivered at the gesture and murmured after a moment, "...So am I.."

A few minutes later, and Ed had taken to fiddling with one of Envy's spiky locks, and Envy in turn had been fingering Ed's bangs. They were both focused on the movie, as it had picked up again, but both were a considerable bit happier than before.

If only we had a camera.

* * *

"-ou just heat up some pizza or something?"

"I want eggs.. He's got eggs, I know it.."

"Ooh, chicken..-"

Ed opened his eyes blearily. He shut them again as the sunlight from the windows invaded harshly. He slowly became aware of a comforting warmth that covered him, and recognized it as coming from another body. He opened his eyes again slowly to notice a limp hand that did _not_ belong to him lying rather close to his chin. Ed shifted and turned slightly, coming face to face with a sleeping Envy. Ed took the time to take in the older boy's features up close.

Envy must not be a morning person to be able to sleep through the noise that was coming from the kitchen. It was an amusing thought..

Wait.

Noise in the kitchen?

_**Envy?**_

Ed's eyes flew open and realized that he was in Envy's arms, and had obviously been like that for a while. 'That's right, I went over to him during the movie.. We must have fallen asleep together..'

It was a thought Ed pushed aside for now, because he had a more pressing matter to think about. Like who the hell was in the kitchen.

Ed lightly took a hold of Envy's wrist and lifted the limp arm off of him. He then slowly rose up, careful not to rouse Envy, just in case the situation wasn't an irregular one (not counting the obvious, of course..). He successfully made it off the couch, and placed the captured arm back on the cushion.

He walked over to the window cut into the wall to see whoever had invaded the house so early.

"Hey! The kid's up!" Marcus called cheerfully, seeing Ed's sleepy face appear at the kitchen wall-window. Duo, and a third friend of Envy's, Kei, both waved or said respective 'good morning!'s.

"... Do you guys regularly sneak into Envy's house while he sleeps...?" Ed asked, and shook his head a bit to rid it of the morning fog.

"Yeah, often enough. Sometimes he doesn't even know we were here, it's kinda funny." Duo laughed.

"Close 'bout a robba could come in 'ere an' rob 'im blind, silly sing. 'e probly wouldn'a care mus eida." The other teen, the second of who Ed didn't recognize, spoke with such a heavy accent on his Japanese, that Ed could barely make out some of the words.

"Oh, you probably don't know these two. This is Duo, and that's Kei. I still can't pronounce his full name, I don't think anyone in the country besides he can, so everyone calls him Kei." Ed looked at the two newly introduced teens. Marcus, who Ed knew from some classes, made the other two look very small. Marcus was tall and had short black hair (and was very built, being a football player and all), but the other two were much smaller. Duo was short and skinny, with long auburn hair in a ponytail (much like his own, actually), and the last guy was average height with platinum blond hair that was just a bit longer than Marcus's (Ed recognized him as one of his math classmates, though he didn't share a class with Duo.).

Ed noticed as a few locks of his golden hair brushed his neck, that his hair tie was missing and his hair was loose. Hmm, it must have fallen out at some point.

Suddenly, the thought suddenly kind of occurred to Ed the same way someone realized a soccer ball about to beam them in the forehead. If these guys walked in, and he'd been asleep with Envy...

Ed was suddenly very awake, and looking very shocked. Duo caught the look and snickered.

"Heh, you two looked pretty cozy over there. What were you doing last night?" He said slyly. Kei leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms in amusement. Marcus was listening, but kept hunting through the pantry for edible foodstuffs (not like the choice was sparse, Marcus just tended to be all the more picky when the options were so wide).

"A-ah, we, watched a movie. I guess.. We sorta.. fell asleep.." Ed murmured, blushing.

"And you magically floated into his arms at some point during this sleep?" Duo pried, grinning in good humor. Ed turned away and muttered, "It's our business..."

The brown haired teen shrugged and laughed at the blonde's shyness.

"Could ah bosa you four your name?" Kei asked Ed. It took the blond a moment to realize what was being asked, but he replied, "Edward. You can call me Ed though, if you like." Kei nodded and smiled, testing the name and coming up with a combination of "Edo" and "Edao".

"Want to make brownies? Envy's got brownie mix in here..." Ed rose an eyebrow at the tall teen. "Envy knows how to make brownies?"

" 'e probly jus' lykes to eat sa mixing, sat Enfy.." Kei joked. Marcus chuckled at that.

"Yeah, probably. So, brownies?"

"Nah, let's actually make breakfast. School doesn't start for an hour or two anyways." Duo countered, really wanting his 'real breakfast'. Brownies would make him hyper, in any case.

Eventually, they compromised and made both, and Ed went back in the living room to wake the slumbering Envy. As far as the wild teen's sleeping mind was concerned, no amount of noise was important enough to make him conscious.

Ed placed a hand on the teen's bare shoulder and shook lightly. "Envy? I think you should wake up.."

Envy cracked an eye open and groaned his displeasure. He lifted his own hand and tried to feebly pull Ed back down beside him. Ed resisted easily enough, and backed away, amused despite himself as Envy blindly reached out for him even though his eyes were closed again.

"Envy.." Ed muttered. He was actually really funny when he was half-asleep. Who knew?

A small crash and an "Aw shit!" sounded from the kitchen, and though it didn't seem to alert Envy, it seemed to annoy him.

"Those freeloading bastards... **What the fuck you guys doing here so early!**... **What's burning?**" He yelled the last two parts out to the said teens in the kitchen. Getting up, lest they burned his house down, Envy made his way to the kitchen, though not before twirling a finger in Ed's free hair and over his ear.

With a small blush, Ed followed the taller teen.

Envy scowled as he went in the kitchen, seeing some brownie mix splashed over his stove.

"I don't even know how to make those, how do you?" He asked accusingly, placing a hand on his hip. Marcus shrugged and grinned, going for a paper towel to clean up the minor mess. Envy sighed.

"Damn if I know since when my house wasn't private anymore.." Envy muttered grumpily, and spied Kei.

"**You!** You took a picture, didn't you!" He accused, pointing an equally accusing finger at the foreign teen. He was infamous for his camera, and his very well developed skills at using it. He grinned.

"Ah did. Waz it a bad sing?" He asked innocently, pulling out the small, thin black digital camera out of his shirt by it's necklace.

Envy walked over and took hold of the small object, turning it on and browsing. To hell with computers, but the camera he'd figured out a while ago with practice.

"Not a bad thing, I just want to see it." Finding the image he knew was going to be there, his features softened as Kei's abilities proved themselves. The picture was of them both sleeping of course, and probably wasn't taken all that long ago.

His right hand was near Ed's face, and the other was still lying on Ed's hand. Ed's other hand was aligned with his body, though a lock of Envy's green hair was twisted between his fingers. Both were fast asleep, faces light and expressionless. The lighting and angle was perfect, capturing them both well. Envy saw that it was the only picture taken today, and almost felt disappointed. In any case, he lifted the small silver chain over Kei's head and walked over to a curious Ed. He showed the small screen to the blond and watched the teen's expression turn thoughtful, and.. Happy? Was that genuine content on his face?

"We look so... Peaceful..." Ed murmured, taking the small objects in his hands and staring at it like it was the most precious thing he'd seen in a long while. The other four seniors in the room looked quite happy at their bewildered little classmate.

Soon enough, the group of teens were lazing around the living room, each having different meals. In the end, only Marcus had wanted to eat the half-burnt brownies.

"Hey, print out a few copies of that for me, 'k Kei?" Envy said randomly, referring to the picture. Ed glanced at him, but didn't say anything. Envy had the feeling that Ed didn't want to be too public about their relationship yet, but didn't say so to Kei. The teen knew enough not to spread the news around though. When Ed was ready, Envy would be all too happy to show off their new coupling. All in good time.

Ed finished up his sandwich that he'd made (for breakfast?.. eh, why not), and went to go put his dishes in the dishwasher. Ed took a moment to reflect on how well off Envy was, but didn't stress it too much. He went back, and commenced searching for something.

"What ya looking for?" Marcus asked, as Ed scanned the floor.

"My hair tie, I think it fell out."

After a few moments of fruitless searching, Envy told him to give up and leave his hair down. Ed sighed, resolving to do just that. Blah... Last time he had, the girls in his first period had fawned over it like crazy.. And this time, there would be a most-likely over-protective and (no pun intended) jealous Envy there. This may not end up well..

Had to say though, getting ready for school at Envy's house was quite an interesting experience!

* * *

The ride to school was horrifying.

Ed was on with Envy, Duo was by himself on his small blue bike, and Kei was on the back of Marcus' large black Harley, holding on to the back of the seat with out a care in the world.

Naturally, the three bikes' riders were competitive. And competitive riders made for fast, psychotic races down crowded streets, with traumatized little 15-year-olds screaming their lungs out.

"YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME DEAF!" Envy roared over the wind and screams of his passenger.

"YOU'RE GONNA SCAR ME FOR LIFE!" Ed roared back, eyes wide and hand gripping the mid-bar way too tightly. Duo was laughing so hard Envy thought he may have an accident (take that however you like.(wink)).

Finally, the three bikes screamed to their respective stops almost in front of the school, making every arriving high school kid look in wonderment. There was some laughter as Ed nearly pushed Envy off the back in his rush to get off. He dropped to the ground and tried to control his stomach.

"Edo, you have no guts.." Envy chided.

"No.. They're going to be on the ground in a moment..." Ed said back weakly.

Envy sighed and grinned. "I'll be right back, we gotta go park these in the lot." When no response came about, Envy backed the red vehicle up and spun around on the sidewalk (where he and the other two bikes had illegally stopped). He went back to the small lane that led from the road and followed it up to where the parking lot was, close to the back of the school. Marcus and Duo followed suit.

After a moment, Ed got up and just in time, as Envy stopped by him and handed him his backpack.

"Here."

"... err..."

Envy slapped him on the back and told him he'd be okay, but Ed's face went as green as the older teen's hair with the impact. Not such a good move Envy..

In any case, Ed managed to make it to first period without being sick (in fact, he was already recovered by the time he'd gotten to the second floor). When he walked into Havoc's class, he immediately saw that some earlier guesses of his were indeed, correct.

The girls fawned over how cute he looked with his hair down again.

Envy was indeed, jealous and over-protective.

"AwwWW**WW**! Look at how cute you are! Can I play with your hair!" Tia and her hoard of friends were gushing over Ed's appearance. The leather pants from yesterday and a sleeveless muscle-shirt (without the usual coat-shirt that accompanied it) with the addition of his loose hair apparently appealed greatly to them.

Ed snuck a sheepish glance at Envy, a sort of helpless look that told the older teen that it wasn't by choice. Envy looked like he was three seconds from getting pissed, but was trying to control himself for Ed's sake.

"Um, ano, just let me take my seat, class is going to start soon.." Ed tried, but to no avail. One girl actually got the nerve to play with a bit of his hair before he had a chance to react, and that's when Envy blew up.

"WANNA LET HIM SIT THE FUCK DOWN?" Envy yelled. The group of like, six or seven girls silenced and stared at the seething teen in shock. One of the girls stepped forward and said sharply, "Why do _you_ care so much? Are you his _boyfriend_ or something?" There was a ring of laughter that went around the class, but it quickly died down as Envy didn't say anything. **That,** was not a normal reaction. And the wild teen was clearly looking at Ed in silent question.

"Yes he his." Ed said, determination written all over his face. He'd wanted to wait until they were already comfortably settled into their relationship, but he wasn't about to pretend it didn't exist just for the benefit of some snotty girl. Envy stood up and crossed his arms, content, if not a little surprised, at Ed's direct action.

"Y-you.. and him? This is a joke, right?" Tia said, obviously disbelieving. She could see Envy saying such a ludicrous thing, just to get reactions and stir up trouble, but to get the cute new blond into the joke too? NOT funny.

Ed shook his head. The red-headed girl that had challenged Envy a minute ago backed up like Ed had suddenly grew horns.

"... You're gay? This whole time, you've been gay?" One of the other girls asked, bewildered.

"It's my business. But in any case, I'd still like to sit down. Could you let me through?" Ed replied calmly. Cat's out of the bag now, no turning back. The girls moved away and let him get to his seat. It seemed that the opinions of him amongst the class were mixed now. Some looked at him with distaste at the discovery of his sexuality, others seemed rather intrigued or interested, and others just didn't care either way.

Envy took his seat behind Ed and asked softly, "Gay, or Bi?" Ed turned his head a bit and replied with a, "What?"

"Are you going to be gay, or bi?" Envy repeated.

Ed thought on that for a second. "Since I'm with you now, and I never oggled girls anyway, I guess I'll be gay." The words didn't even feel like they were his. It was like someone else was saying them for him. It was the weirdest feeling..

After a moment, Envy said back, "I'll switch to gay too. I don't need anyone else since I have you." The comment made Ed flush, and he put up a hand to cover it up in embarrassment.

Scieszka walked in, well, rushed in.

"Sorry everyone! Let's start class now, please get to your seats! There's going to be a surprise quiz!"

Groan.

* * *

It was lunch, and Ed was making a trip back to school from the hamburger place not two minutes away. He had a paper bag with lunch for both him and Envy. Ed had done the deed of his own accord, since Envy had told him he'd be a bit late, but he'd wanted to eat lunch with him outside. Ed thought it would be a nice gesture, and only hoped that Envy wouldn't have already eaten. Ah well, never underestimate a teenager's appetite.

An unexpected event happened on the way back.

He was on the opposite side of the street from the school, walking in front of the houses and making his way to the crosswalk. Someone who had been leaning against the pole near the crossing, with their back facing Ed, suddenly turned around and confronted him.

"Edward, I presume?" He said. Though his voice was low and unthreatening, Ed got a slimy feeling from his tone. He backed away one step, feeling just a bit nervous. The guy was tall, looked about young-twenties, and had an intimidating outfit.

Black leather pants with a thick belt, dark blue muscle shirt, and a very dark green short-vest with a run of thick white fur over the shoulders and back of neck. (AN: Anyone recognizing him yet?)

"Who wants to know?" Ed replied, uncertain.

"It's not very important right now. I'd like to ask you a favor however." Ed narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but didn't say anything. What could this guy want?

The man took off his dark, round glasses and folded them up. He held them out for the blond teen to take. "Please give these to Envy."

Suspicion and a prickle of unease ran through Ed, but it seemed like a harmless enough request. He accepted the small item and continued on his way without another word. When he had already crossed the street, he looked back and saw the man already far down the street in the opposite direction. Ed inspected the pair of glasses.

Intricately wired with a light, silver metal, and dark reflective lenses that were perfectly circular. What significance did the item hold?

Shaking his head in wonderment, Ed made his way around the left side of the building to where a bunch of trees stood tall next to the school, the only form of shade near the school (besides the school itself). The yard extended far, holding various sports fields, and only some trees that spotted the perimeter.

Soon enough, Ed found Envy sprawled out on the warm grass, enjoying the breeze. He sat down hesitantly near him, and put the bag down. Envy cracked an eye open and sat up with a smile.

"What's this?" He asked, cocking his head at the smell of food. His long green hair mimicked the motion, and Ed found it rather cute.

"I got this for us. Have you eaten yet?"

"No. Thanks chibi!" Ed pouted at the name, and Envy ruffled his hair apologetically. He spotted a silver object in Ed's hand.

"What's that?"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Some guy in a weird vest asked me to give these to you." Ed held out his hand and dropped the object into Envy's outstretched one. He brought the object closer for inspection, and for a second, looked puzzled. Then..

Pure Horror.

* * *

"I'm back..."

* * *

**Cat: **... murhurhurhur... Murhurhruhrhurhur... MUHAHAHAHAHA!  
**Kit: ..** Um..  
**Seira:** YOU'RE **LEAVING US THERE!  
****Cat**: I sure am! Instead of writing some random fillers for the readers to munch on, I thought I'd move right into my next main story line.  
**Phoenix:** I take it this is the pre-transition?  
**Cat:** How did you- .. Ah, you're _Phoenix_, you bloody well know everything practically...

Yeah, that's right people. I'm **finally** launching my self-long-awaited TRANSITION CHAPTERS!

For weeks, yeah, since this story was started, I've been waiting to drop what I've fondly labeled, The Bomb Chapters. The next chappie, and it's follow-up part two are the transition chapters between this arch, and my masterpiece Third Arch. It's going to be named at the bottom of the AN.

**Seira:** ... This arch was "Relationship Building", but, what does that mean is going to happen in the third arch? "Relationship Building - Continued"? Lame-o..  
**Cat**: Of course not... The third ach is very deep, it will have lots of angst, and it will be a complete turn around from what I've been writing so far. Fans of BBI, BlueBird's Illusion are going to be in for a treat, because the closest thing to a certain, shmexy little blank-eyed blond is going to have a shocking appearance... (And no. Ed does not die. (sigh))

For, the next arch,

is soon to be started.

Fans of Sin High, prepare yourselves for...

**Sin High**

**Arch 3 - The Pride Arch**

We're in for a bumpy ride...

* * *

**First Arch **- Intro - _"Laws to live by".  
_**Second Arch **- Relationship Building - _"Bird Titles."  
_**Third Arch** - Pride -_ "Seven Heavenly Virtues."_

Next Time:

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 14 - Beginning of Pride


	13. Beginning of Pride

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

Hey Minna-san!

Thanks a lot for your reviews and gifts! I write for you guys!

Cat Got (and feels guilty about it since everyone has yet to read the AN..):

-A bag of candy, a bowl of rice and chop sticks, a pride plushie, and a Edo plushie to Kit (Kit: SQUEAL! I mean.. uh..)  
-Bob the man-eating hamster (Seira: AAAAHHH! A RAT! - Kit: But you're a cat demon.. - Seira: ... AAAHH! A RAT!)  
-I.O.U paper  
-Pet rock (You liked the poem? Thanks!)  
-Warm Vanilla Pudding  
-Pride!Ed Plushie, Quiznos and Starbucks for your muse (Muses: Whee!), More Rolaids, Shnahxz (Cat: Nuu!), Wrath's sock, Fletcher's hat, Mr. Hat.  
-Cheetos and a box of Matches (Thanks Livy! I loved the link, I went immediately, saw the BG page of the site, and said (quote), "Niiice...")  
-Tissue Box  
-Pocky  
-A cookie, chocolate, AquaDrops, An apple, cake! Chips, pizza, kitty good luck charm, another cookie, a tooth-brush, tooth-paste, EDO'S HAIR TIE!  
-A billion roses that change with the sky (Readers, I smell a Poet!)  
-TUNA-ON-A-STRING™  
-Llamas (Llamas! OMG, it really IS going to be a zoo in here soon..)  
-Platter of cookies and muffins

-xxDream Theaterxx: BBI ties in to the third arch in a loose way, but I can't really explain it without totally giving it away. :3 Don't worry, it's relevant!  
-Labradoodle: About Envy donating his clothes, no, he doesn't donate to the store, he donates to charity. Charity sells his clothes for money, and uses the money however charities use money! Also, about BBI, the only places you can get it now are in Chinese auctions, or a bootleg copy from a friend or such. It's very hard to come across..  
-Amandana: Envy's friends didn't really "break in", they knew where the key was too. As for Ed's admitting his relationship, well, would you rather he'd denied it and possibly lose Envy? Heh. Don't throw rocks! I'm updating!

Alright, once again, thanks so much! Now, for your ANs:

**1.** The entire story so far has been very light, and happyish. This entire upcoming arch however will have a stress on angst. This chapter, and it's follow-up are the Bomb Chapters, and will be dumping the angst, and shocking surprises on. This Is Not A Happy Chappie..  
**2.** Uncomfortable situations and events within these two transitions. There will be Rape discussed, **YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**.

Much sorries for the sudden style-change, but once again, it is necessary. Don't worry however, when the Bomb Chapter shock wears off, the story lightens up again somewhat.

Afterthought: … Wow.. Pretty much everyone knew it was Greed right off the bat..

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 13 - Beginning of Pride (Transition Chapter 1 of 2)

* * *

_"What's that?"_

_"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Some guy in a weird vest asked me to give these to you." Ed held out his hand and dropped the object into Envy's outstretched one. He brought the object closer for inspection, and for a second, looked puzzled. Then.._

_Pure Horror._

-"I'm back..."-

* * *

Ed's confusion, and fear, rose as Envy's apparent terror played his body like a fiddle. Ed had never seen the older teen so scared. Actually, he'd never seen him scared, period.

"E-Envy?"

Envy jolted out of the petrified state he'd been, seemingly stuck in horrible memories of the past. He stared at Ed, shock, fear, and anger there in his eyes.

Ed gasped slightly as Envy lunged forward and locked him in a bone-crushing hug. Ed's confusion only got worse however as the shivers and small convulsions shook the older male. Ed wanted to raise his own arms for comfort, but he couldn't, Envy had such a tight grip on him.

"I'm sorry Edo.. I'm so sorry.." He whispered. Before Ed knew what he was seeing, Envy was already up and running full-speed for the back of the building, where his motorcycle was locked.

"E-Envy!" Ed yelled, "What's going on!"

Painfully aware of the voice behind him, but needing to ignore it, Envy practically ran right into his bike in his haste. His fingers fumbled trying to start it up, and he barely was able to keep his hand steady trying to unlock it in the first place. When he did get it set up, he jumped on and tore out of the lot with even less care to the well-being of his machine than usual. He couldn't even see straight, his eyes were so blurred.

"You're supposed to be dead.. You're supposed to be dead.." Envy muttered, the words lost on the rushing air. "**YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD YOU BASTARD!"**

* * *

_He'd only been 14 when the man who would change his life walked into the picture._

_Back then, he was a mere prototype of who he was now. Back then he was closer to being average, but not close enough._

_Gura._

_That was the name of a senior who had taken an obsessive liking to him. The name of someone who had hidden his horrible personality behind a wall of lies. It was the name of someone who reeled him in by using his own attention-seeking ways against him._

_Envy was a mere freshmen, but he was already too different to be looked over by the masses. Long naturally-green hair that lay in partially spiky divisions, an attitude to reckon with, and his thin, almost feministic body separated him from the over-load of everyday people._

_And a pair of malicious, violet eyes had set on him well before he knew it._

_Gura had slowly wormed his way into the unstable heart that Envy had. The loss of his parents at an early age left him cold, so cold, that he wouldn't let anyone close. As time went on however, the need for the attention he so lacked was sought out. But he had already became a person that intrigued, but scared too many. Gura had taken advantage of this._

* * *

Envy slammed open the door and went into the kitchen, smashing a fist on the table so hard his swore he'd bruised his knuckles. He pulled out a glass and ran some water from the tap, then tried to raise it to his lips without dropping it. It seemed very possible to lose his hold, what with how his hand was shaking.

* * *

_Gura had never said he would love Envy. He never spoke of their future. All he uttered were false proclamations and bestowed affections that had a dark purpose hidden behind them. All too soon, Envy was too entwined in Gura's web to move._

_All too quickly, it was like a blur, the relationship changed. Gura was angry, Envy could only do wrong. In his panic to keep the older teenager by his side, he would take whatever punishment Gura would have, telling him that if he were to learn his place, then he would be forgiven._

_Beatings.._

_Torture.._

_He couldn't tell anyone. He didn't want to. But even he would only take so much._

_When he tried to rebel, Gura had raped him. Envy was a mere 14 year old freshmen. He had fighting experience, and he had the agility and wits of a demon, but he was no match for the 18 year old Gura, who'd been fighting all his life._

_It had been in his own house too. He was living alone, his grandmother was supporting him. She checked in every so often to see how he was doing, but besides that, he'd been left to live by himself. Envy still remembered that day, the first time Gura had taken him._

* * *

_They were sitting on Envy's bed, or more accurately, Gura was sitting on Envy's bed and Envy was sitting in his lap. Gura had his back to the headboard, propping him up, and Envy was sitting up by himself. The situation was far from happy however._

_Gura had told him his hair was messy. He made Envy sit with him. Gura wouldn't let him move, and when Envy tried to, Gura hit him. Eventually, Envy was forced to sit still while Gura pulled a brush through his hair. It wasn't gentle at first, but as the tangles came free, the brush went by smoother. But still, Envy was crying._

That's right... I cried... then…

_"G... Gura... P..please stop..." He murmured, tears streaking his face. There were two large purple bruises there, but by tomorrow, they would not be the blistering effects of a punch. Tomorrow, they would become 'just a small thing he got falling down the stairs'._

_"Shut up Envy. If you can't run a brush through your own hair, it can't be helped." Gura growled. He sounded angry, though inside, he enjoyed his victim's pain with a sadistic smile._

_"I'll be more responsible.."_

_"I don't care. Just thank me for helping you. You're ungrateful. Why do I stay with you?"_

_"I'm sorry!"_

_He seethed with anger, though he hid it well. Gura did nothing but hurt him. He did nothing but cause him more pain... Where had the affection he'd showered the younger teen with gone? Where was the kind, gentle Gura that had approached him only months ago?_

_"No."_

_"What was that?"_

_"No. I'm not sorry." Envy reached up with his right hand. His left was tightly gripped in Gura's, unmovable hand to keep him seated. He locked his fingers around the brush, still half-embedded in his hair._

_"I'm not sorry. Why do you stay with me? I should be asking myself that about you. Why don't you care about me anymore? Why do you hurt me!"_

_Gura moved the brush out of Envy's long silky hair and tugged it out of his grip. "You are going against me? How dare you! I sacrifice so much for you and you thank me like this?" He smacked Envy with the very brush that he'd taken away._

_"You are ungrateful. You should be punished."_

_"No!" Gura's eyes narrowed. The boy was trying to free himself._

_"Stop it, just stop it! Leave me alone! I don't want this anymore!"_

_Stop it.  
__Stop it!  
__STOP IT! GURO!_

_The screams were muffled; no one would come to help him. No one knew what had happened to Envy that night. It had only been the first of many times, and for months, months and months, Envy couldn't break away from the man. Gura would not let him. Gura threatened to do worse, though no matter how Envy followed his orders, 'worse', always found it's way to him anyways._

_STOP IT! PLEASE!_

_The pain, the humiliation, the shattered bits of Envy's life that had already been broken since his parents died, they tortured him for nearly a year. No one was allowed to know, Envy couldn't, Wouldn't, tell them._

_...stop it...  
__...please... stop it...  
__... help... someone.. please...  
__...please..._

* * *

Sweat made some of Envy's thick hair stick uncomfortably to his neck. That awful memory had replayed in his mind again.

He set the glass down on the counter, it was still half-full. He couldn't finish it, he could barely swallow properly. He felt like sobbing, but he'd promised long ago never to cry. No. That bastard had loved it too much.

* * *

_He wasn't sure when, but at some point, Gura had changed his name to Greed. He did it because he liked Envy's idea. He'd never asked Envy for his real name, he didn't care. Envy was too far from a regular person as far as he was concerned, and he didn't want to find out that his little obsession had some average name that was uninteresting._

_But it didn't matter much. Envy wanted to forget it, right?_

_There was a lot Envy wanted to forget. But he knew he'd always remember. As he walked in the warehouse that Greed and his gang hung out in, he knew he would always remember the horrible sights he'd seen, and events he'd been through._

_"Ah, Envy. There you are.."_

* * *

In his room now, Envy was torn.

He couldn't stay. Greed was back. Back from the _dead,_ goddammit.

But he had made a pact. He was supposed to be with Ed. To love and care and live happily ever after in A PERFECT **FUCKING** DREAMLAND!

He rammed his foot into the bedside table, tearing the leg off and making it smack into the opposite wall. The small piece of furniture crashed to the ground in a heap.

He fell to the ground on his knees, putting his head in his hands. The psycho that had scarred him for life was alive, and he wanted his sweet little freshman toy back. Envy peered through his fingers at the wreckage he'd just created. The fact that he may have broken his foot didn't slip into his mind.

Pack up and leave.

Stay and fight.

What was he supposed to do?

* * *

_A month since he had the idea. Two weeks since he'd started building the courage to carry it out. One minute since he'd thought it was a bad idea after all._

_"A challenge?" Greed laughed._

_"I want to challenge you to a race on Blitz Highway by motorcycle. If I win, you leave me alone, forever." Greed had laughed at him more._

_"And if I win, what? What more can you offer me that I can't take?" He leered at the shorter teen. Envy looked down, panicking. What more indeed?_

_Greed watched his 'property' deflate then and there. It must have taken a long time to build the courage to speak to him so brashly. The last time Envy had tried to fight him.. Well, Envy **still** had the marks._

_"I'll take your challenge. Nothing you can dish out is too much for me." Envy looked up, surprise and hope in his eyes. Greed liked the look. He was the most fun to crush when he looked like that. One thing Greed especially loved about the teen, was that he never gave up. He also disliked it too. Some things he should have given up long ago._

_Greed had agreed to Envy's challenge, a dangerous, desperate attempt to free himself. Though it would have to wait for a later day. _

_Envy had to recover from his punishment for being _rude_ first._

* * *

It was decided.

Envy was going to leave.

He was going to hide, and he wouldn't tell anyone. Especially not Ed.

Ed would be the first one Greed targeted. He'd already proven that he knew their relationship by merely having Ed deliver the sunglasses. Envy would leave, and Ed would not be included in the whole mess. He hoped.

Now, he wasn't going to stay in hiding, no. He was going to hide until Greed lost interest in him, didn't want him anymore.

But no! It had been four years already! Greed still wanted him! And he was horribly good with his obsessions, his name was perfectly picked. Greed wouldn't let him go.

So now what? Call the police? No way, it wouldn't work. Greed had been doing too many illegal things for too long to be caught.

Running? Where would he go that Greed wouldn't find him? There was no such place. But sitting here like a duck would be worse.

And Ed?

Ed would be hurt if he stayed, that much was for certain. Envy had known Greed long enough to understand how he worked, on some small level. Though they had planned to try and have a life-long relationship, it would have to be put on hold, or even stopped. There was no way that Ed could be associated with Envy for much longer without being in serious danger.

An angry fist connected loudly to the wall.

* * *

_Envy revved up the bike. The vibrations of the powerful machine made him feel like he could do anything. Including grasping the victory of this fight._

_He was thankful that his father had shown him how to ride, and more thankful that all the (illegal) practicing had paid off to make him a formidable rider. Greed had known that he had his father's bike, he'd known that Envy could ride, but he never knew how well he could ride._

_At the start of Blitz Highway, the old, abandoned road that had been partially torn up and started far away from the other roads, Greed and Envy prepared to take the dangerous race._

_The highway wound up along the cliff that was supposed to connect Envy's hometown with a larger city, a large place called West Central. West Central in turn connected to Central Tokyo. _

_The project had been abandoned half-way through; the dangers of having a highway go up a cliff had only been discovered after much progress had been done. It was stupid that there hadn't been more planning, but either way, it would serve it's purpose for the two fighters._

_"You really want to go through with this? You'll get hurt." Greed taunted, revving up his big black motorcycle. It wasn't built for super speed, but endurance and control. Those would be needed to coast the sharp, unfinished turns of the highway. In the back of Greed's mind, he was doubtful that Envy could handle the race, and he may end up killing himself. But the older male didn't think about it too much, he didn't want to appear weak. (-.-0)_

_"I'm going to win this. You'll be the one getting hurt." Envy snarled back. He wore a black skort and a tank top, the first time he'd ever put on such a skimpy outfit. He'd bought it a long time ago, to please Greed, but the older man didn't like it, he didn't want other people seeing so much of him. He didn't want to share Envy with anyone. So, Envy wore it today. He was going to make a statement against Greed, in everyway he could come up with. This was his final chance to break away from Greed. He **would** win._

_Or die trying._

_There were some ugly cheers, some of the cruel guys in Greed's gang had tagged along, waiting eagerly for the spectacle. No encouragement for Envy however._

_"3, 2, 1, GO!"_

_Two motors roared, and the bikes took off. Envy shot ahead. Like his father, he was best with lightweight vehicles, and the slim, golden bike was excellent for him._

_All too soon, the road started to rise up. Envy had hit the first ramp up the cliff. He had been horribly shocked however, when the ramp ended rather suddenly and turned onto a flat road that was cut into the cliff face. He had nearly hit the wall in his attempt to turn while still going. Greed however, cruised the corner like a breeze, waving maliciously as he went by._

_Though he took the flats easy enough, the turns were always horrifying. There were no barriers, no way to stop them from falling if they went too close to the edge. The road was wide, built for many cars, but the state it had been left in made driving perilous._

_Someone had been watching over Envy that day. Someone had taken pity on the poor teenager. Someone turned their wrath on Greed._

_A mere two flats from the top of the cliff, like rungs on a ladder, Greed merrily turned to climb up the next ramp, but something had gone wrong. Maybe his tire broke, maybe the bike wasn't as durable as he thought it was. Maybe it was all the abuse it had taken over the years._

_Greed had yelled in horror as the bike sailed right off the turn, and into mid air. He'd seen Envy stop suddenly and watch him with wide eyes. But he was so far away now.. Greed cursed his luck and blacked out well before his descent had stopped. Envy wouldn't know it for four years, but Greed's life had been saved miraculously by the lake near the foot of the cliff._

_But Envy was free, at least for those four years. _

_Abandoning the race, Envy packed up and immediately moved; informing his grandmother that he wanted to live in the city, Central Tokyo, and disappeared before Greed's gang had found out about his 'death.'_

_For the longest time, Envy wore a skort and tank top to honor that day._

* * *

But now it was meaningless.

Envy searched his closet for anything that would cover as much skin as possible. Leather, he had, but inconspicuous? Nope.

He was leaving. If he still had a chance with Ed, it would have to be rekindled after years, decades maybe, of hiding.

He couldn't fight. Greed was not someone you could fight. Especially when you were panicking and trying to keep his memories out of your mind.

Envy froze as a hysteric knocking came from downstairs. He realized after a yell, that it was Ed. No, he couldn't see Ed right now. He had to leave. Greed was after him, and he would hurt Ed too...

Envy wasn't good with trauma.

* * *

"Envy! ENVY!" Ed pounded the door, yelling the name over and over. The more he'd thought about it, the more it worried him. Who was the strange guy that had given him the glasses, and scared Envy so badly? "Envy, open up goddammit!"

It had taken him a while, but he'd managed to find a way to Envy's house. It had taken two buses to get there, but he'd finally arrived.

He knew the teen had come home, Ed saw the motorcycle in the garage. It was left open in Envy's haste to get inside his house.

Glaring angrily at the door, he pondered kicking it off it's hinges. Passing it off as a stupid idea (he probably couldn't, either way), he remembered something particularly important about said hinges.

Quickly, Ed reached up and picked the key hidden behind the top hinge out of it's spot (after a bit of trouble, damn his height!). He fit it into the lock and turned, opening the door. He didn't care that he'd just entered without permission; he was going to find out what was going on.

"Envy! Where are you! What's happening!" Ed yelled, glancing at the stairs after running into the living room. He heard some quick foot steps, and Envy appeared at the top of the stairs, looking incredulously at Ed.

"How did.. Damn.." He remembered showing Ed the key's location yesterday, when he'd slept over.

Ed stalked over to the base of the stairs. Envy's panicky look frightened him. "Envy, what the hell is wrong? Why did you run away from me? Why do you look like that!"

Envy cursed under his breath, and disappeared as he went back to his room to finish packing quickly. A single suitcase of clothes and every bit of money he had in the house would be all he took. He'd survive somehow. He'd anticipated the angry stomps up the stairs.

Ed appeared in his doorway, seeing the various broken objects in the room and the suitcase lying open on Envy's bed. He fixed Envy is a surprised look, his mouth wide open. Envy narrowed his eyes in pain, clenching his fists and trying not to show anymore of his panic.

".. w.. what?" Ed murmured. Where was he going? Why?

"I have to leave Edo. I can't tell you where, I don't know myself. I don't know when I'll be able to see you again." Envy said quietly, glaring at the floor near Ed's feet with hatred. His brand new relationship, and Greed was going to ruin it...

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me why." Envy looked up slowly to look at Ed's face. There was a fierce anger there, and a determination that told him he wouldn't be swayed.

"I just do.. I have to go.."

"Tell me why, Envy! I'll come too!" Ed yelled, stepping forward and throwing an arm out in anger. Envy looked at him in irritation.

"Since when were you so pushy.."

"Since when were you so scared!"

Envy gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. This was too much. He whipped around and kicked his bed post in blind rage, groaning in pain as his already abused foot took more damage. He held on to the post to keep himself steady.

Ed rushed forward and forcibly turned Envy around, accidentally making him fall to the bed on his back. Ed took the opportunity to lean forward and put his hand on Envy's chest and the other on the soft bed. He glared at Envy, who was looking up at him in shock.

Envy knew that there was a more fiery side to Ed, but with all the emotional tugs he'd put the teen through, Envy pretty much only got to see Ed's flustered side. He'd certainly never seen the blond this _mad_ before.

"Tell me what's going on." He growled, demanding yet again. He would get his answer no matter what it took. Envy quickly got over his surprise, and forced the younger teen to let him up.

"I don't want to get you involved."

"I'm **going** to be involved!"

"I won't let you!"

"You're not LEAVING!"

"**HE'LL HURT YOU!**"

Wide golden eyes looked up into distressed violet ones. Though Envy's hands gripped Ed's shoulders painfully tightly, the blond paid it no mind.

"...What?"

Envy slowly let go of Ed, turning away and trying to control his breathing. "He'll.. hurt you.. like he hurt me.. Just because I want to be with you.."

Silence gripped the room, but the tension softened somewhat. "...Please talk to me? Tell me who 'he' is. I'm not going to back down."

Envy looked back at Ed. "You really are stubborn. But you care." Envy shakily stepped over to the bed and sat down, leaning over and entwining his fingers. "Come, sit with me. I'll tell you everything."

Ed slowly came over, and sat beside Envy, closer than he would have chosen to be had he been off-handedly asked a previous day. He lay his hands in his lap, focusing on Envy's face, ready to hear a tale that Envy had never told anyone else.

Envy told him about Greed; how he'd hurt Envy, how Envy had freed himself. How Greed had come back.

Eventually, Envy broke down and sobbed, though no tears were granted to leave his eyes.

* * *

"Let me have it."

"I want to do it."

Ed unrolled some gauze and picked up the little roll of white surgical tape from the first aid kit. Envy held his hand out with a sigh. The knuckles were purple and blue.

Envy was sitting in a kitchen chair. He was feeling much calmer now than he had an hour ago. Ed sat across from him, picking out items from a well-stocked first-aid box that Envy kept in the downstairs bathroom. He didn't need it often, but it was useful after a particularly nasty accident on his bike. It didn't happen often, but it was smart to have a kit anyways.

After Ed had listened to Envy's story, he'd noticed that Envy's right hand and foot were injured, caused by Envy's own anger. Ed had insisted that they both be treated immediately. So, Envy found himself in the kitchen being fussed over in near perfect silence.

Ed took a strip off of the white tape while Envy held down the end of the gauze with his good hand. Two of the small sticky strips and the bandage was complete. Envy flexed his hand slightly, not quite liking the feeling of it being restricted. Soon enough, the same treatment was done to his foot, and Envy was starting to feel uneasy at his less-than-perfect ability to move.

Ed got up off the floor and wrapped up the loose gauze on it's roll. He put the few items used in his ministrations back in the kit, and sat down, looking at Envy.

"So. What are we going to do?"

"... I don't know." Envy looked at his well-wrapped hand. He would have messed it up if he'd tried to do it himself, what with his one good hand and all.

"Running away won't solve this. There has to be a better choice." Ed picked up the kit and went to go put it in it's proper place in the bathroom. When he returned, Envy was leaning against the wall while seated.

"I'm sorry I got mad at you. I wasn't thinking clearly." Envy said quietly, his eyes unfocused. He'd gone over everything that he'd wanted to forget, told everything to Ed. It had been painful, his own words haunted him, even now.

Ed sat down again after getting two glasses of water. He set one near Envy and took a sip of the other one. Envy glanced at the water and sighed, taking it up and drinking from it as well.

"I don't know what to do now. I don't want to leave you, but it's dangerous for both of us if I stay."

"... Have you ever talked to the police about him?"

"I told you.. You are the only unrelated one that knows about this."

Ed rubbed his thumb across the surface of the glass, watching the condensation gather into a droplet and slide down the side.

"Maybe.. maybe it would be wise to ask for help. They deal-"

"They can't handle Greed." Envy interrupted, glaring at his glass. "No one can handle him. He's psychotic, and insane, but he's a fucking genius. The police can't take him seriously because they don't know how bad he is. Sending someone on his tail would only piss him off." Envy closed his eyes tightly.

"He was a rapist, murderer, drug dealer, all sorts of shit when he was in high school. What do you think he's accomplished since then? It's been four years. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he's running the black market."

"I think that's exaggerated."

Envy glared at Ed. Deep, angry eyes bore into gold ones. "You don't know enough about him. **I **don't even know enough about him."

"Then you can't let your memory of him scare you. 'A Wolf often appears bigger than he is', Don't you see? He hurt you as a kid and now that old fear is returning and making you think unclearly. He's using your past self to his advantage."

"He uses everything to his advantage. He's a bloody bastard." Envy murmured venomously. He wanted to kick something, break anything, but it would do no good.

"Please, let me get help. I'm sure we can get it through just how danger-"

"No. Police." Envy snarled.

"Then what? You leave and he catches you? At least stay, you'll be safe if there's always people around, right? Maybe we can figure out where he is, and then do something about it!"

"Edo, you don't get it! You can't 'Do something' about him! He isn't some petty criminal!"

"That's why you need help! I won't lose you to him! I need you!" Envy cut off what he was going to say, fixing his surprised gaze on Ed. The blond was partially standing up, anger and fear in his eyes. It hadn't been very long, but somehow Ed had made such a bond with him.. Even _he_ didn't know how strong it was.

"... I don't want to lose you either. But.. If he hurt you... just because you're with me.. I'd never forgive myself.."

"I won't get hurt if you get help. Tell the police, they'll watch over us. Please Envy.."

"I think this is a bad idea..."

"From the way things are progressing on their own, it'll be worse." Envy looked up at Ed from where he'd previously had his face covered by his hand. It was hard to admit, but Ed was probably right. Greed could in all honesty swing by and scoop him up at any time. Envy had no confidence what so ever that he could beat Greed. He couldn't then, he couldn't now. With another set of eyes to look out for him however...

"Okay... I'm skeptical as hell... But I'll do it. You'd better be right Edo, I'm trusting you. For both our sakes."

"Alright." Ed said. Determination was in his eyes, it made Envy feel just a bit better. Maybe.. Maybe there was a chance that they could actually beat Greed.

Maybe.

* * *

It had been a horrible experience for him, but Ed had been there every step of the way. Phone and live talks with the police continuously brought up bad memories, and Envy was severely unsettled with having so much personal information about him being kept on file.

He refused to say anything to anyone unless Ed was with him, and miraculously enough, he was allowed to have the blond with him for every talk. The amount of encouragement he got from his little blond was enough to get him through the pain of his past.

It had only been two days before that the decision was made, the decision to open up to the police and officials and alert them to the monster called Greed. Old cases concerning him were brought up, dropped long ago due to inactivity (Greed covered his tracks too well), and new information added. Though Envy was truly upset by the ordeal, and couldn't bring himself to say that he fully believed it would help, he had a tiny spark of hope.

An officer was posted to watch Envy's house, and another to watch the school during hours. The involvement was given the highest possible secrecy warning that Central's police force could handle. There was no way that Greed could catch wind of the operations. Or so they hoped.

Skepticism haunted him still, the fear that Greed would find out and become madder than ever, but Envy had already initiated the counter-attack. There was no going back.

'I'm trusting you, Ed. I'm trusting you."

* * *

**Cat:** Well... We got to see Ed's more impulsive side...  
**Kit:** Wow.. Cat **can** write angst..  
**Seira:** Cute teen romance to drug-dealing rapist-psychos? What the hell!  
**Cat:** The back story for this didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped it to be.. And I don't feel confident in the dialogue.. Damn this chapter was hard...  
**Phoenix:** Time heals all things human.  
**Cat:** ... I hope so. .. Wait... what's **that** supposed to mean?

And so, Greed has arrived, Envy's painful past has been revealed, and Ed's devotion has been sparked and caused quite the uprising. Was involving the police the right idea? Or will it make everything worse?

"I trust you Ed."

Let's hope Envy trusted right.

Look forward to another very long chapter, as the next is planned as quite the shocker.

Bomb Chapter number 2;

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 14 - Beginning of **B r o k e n** Pride (Transition Chapter 2 of 2)

* * *

The Pride!Arch is soon to begin... 


	14. Beginning of Broken Pride

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

(This chapter is over 11 thousand words long. MAKE. TIME.)

**Kit:** Hello.. Uh...  
**Seira: **HI EVERYONE!  
**Phoenix:** Well, this is interesting..  
**Kit: **Um.. Cat.. Has run away. Like, she left me some notes and the chappie, and she says she'll be back when "The heat dies down". So, as second-in-command, I hesitantly and VERY uncomfortably do the AN.  
**Seira:** I'm helping!  
**Kit: **.. Okay. Ano, she didn't leave a list of gifts, she says she doesn't deserve them for what she wrote in this chapter. But we muses got cake, so "whoot" for that I guess..  
**Seira:** (Chowing down)  
**Phoenix: **There is a few things Cat has noted for the readers. Kit, if you would do the honor...  
**Kit: **... Go away.

"cats notez 4 da readerz (chap14)": **WARNING! NUMBER 1 IS A VERY LONG EMO RANT!**

**1. **There was a long, very insightful review from a reader called "Elixane", and a HUGE thanks to her for it. I got a good look at a number of big holes in my story, and I'd like to address them all for all readers to see, comments from other reviewers are also addressed. Thanks Elixane!

-Apparently the "Greed from past abusive to Envy" thing is unoriginal, but I in no way expected it to be. I personally like the idea, and though I've never read one like that (never really went searching for one..), I decided to use the idea since I "liked" it for my story.  
-I've gotten a few comments on how Envy "wouldn't run away", or comments on his clothes. I love Envy's clothes and I keep him in mostly cannon clothes because I see it fit, and it is obviously in-character, else he wouldn't have worn them in the anime. Also, about Envy not running away or being so timid of Greed, well, he was a 14-year-old kid that was brutally abused and damaged by a malicious near-adult. I think that would leave some trauma. Either way, Envy is over his initial panic, he's not as scared as he was before, more like angry. I wanted to show that Envy can have a first take on something, then have a second take on it later, after being exposed to it for a while. Like his teasing to affection for Ed, his panic goes to vengeful for Greed. But of course, the readers probably wouldn't have guessed this, since they didn't get to see this chappie yet!  
-Elixane pointed out that I didn't really have Ed think about the homosexuality part of the whole thing, and I have to pass this off as it being one of the things he mulled over for hours that I didn't "peek in at". I wrote that he had many periods where he was thinking without us listening in, and anything I didn't cover was thought about then. The reason for this choice is because I'm already messing up with the amount of insight we have on the characters, and if I went over everything, I'd mess up more and probably have him over-think and it would be boring. I'm too fast-paced/impatient to dwell like that anyways.  
-I didn't give much thought to how Ed would think about Al's reaction, and I simply put that Ed had faith that his brother would be accepting enough to be alright with his sexuality choice. To be truthful, too many characters in my story was my downfall for all my other stories, that's why I probably seem to tip-toe for other characters besides Envy and Ed. Sorry to anyone who is disappointed in my lack of dedication to people such as Al..  
-I'd like to point out as an over-view that I have never written Envy or Ed before, I have never written an insightful relationship before, and I make very little planning as to many aspects of this story. I am not confident in my relationship-building story skills, this comes from being anti-social myself, and I feel, along with many readers I'll bet, that the relationship progress I put together is sketchy, rough, and jumps. I'm sorry, I'm still new at that, I'm trying to improve.  
-Lastly I'd like to say one last thing to warn readers. OOC or not, one-sided Uke-Envy vs. Seme-Greed is nose-bleed for me, so it'll be a definite in the story. Sorry to anyone to doesn't agree.

Wow.. What an emo-rant.. Sorry guys! I didn't mean to go on for so long! So, Elixane, thank you ever so much! I hope I didn't sound like I was pulling a bunch of excuses or anything.. Heh. You really made me think about my story, I may consider going back someday and replan the whole thing so it works better. Again, thank you! And last thing, no, this is not a cross-over, Duo is just there for the randomness of it, I don't even know anything about him other than roughly how he looks, and his name.

Thanks!

**2.** "Greed better not hurt Envy again!" "Is Greed going to kidnap Ed?" - I have one unanimous comment for all readers who said, or thought along these lines.  
**YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO HATE ME.  
****3. **To "cm34", thanks, I appreciate your technicalities for school-related stuff such as no-kilts and the wheel-chair info and such. This is fiction, and the way things run in this story's world and place is different from what we may be used to, so certain things are going to be different. Either way, it's suiting my story and I'm sure there are no problems with it, so I'll just keep on making my little crack-induced changes, though thanks for alerting me to the abnormalities of them! I'm abnormal, so it kinda fits though.. Heh.  
**4. **Since I'm a coward and have run away until everyone has sent their comments and such, Kit is in control of all responses. Please aim all your yelling and flamethrowers at her since I know there will be some/many.

**Kit:** Wait! No! Damn! Delete that last one! (Backspace button not responding.)

-As a last note, please know that I have messed with everyone's fighting level. If someone is much better or worse in my story in terms of combat than from the anime/manga, it's on purpose. It's AU, I'm allowed to.

* * *

**WARNING - BOMB CHAPTER ALERT **- This chapter deals with** graphic scenes **that may disturb some readers, as it was previously rated T for Teen, and may have readers at a Teen level. **You have been warned.**

* * *

****

Sin High

Chapter 14 - Beginning of **B r o k e n** Pride (Transition Chapter 2 of 2)

* * *

"I found you Envy."

"G-Greed!"

The man walked out of that shadows, but Envy could still only make out half of him. He was so much.. bigger than he was four years ago..

Greed put a hand up on the wall of the store. He'd appeared out of the alleyway like some horrid specter. He grinned maliciously, jagged teeth appearing bigger than they were thanks to the street light.

"I'm going to make you mine again.."

"I'll fight you! I won't let you have me!" Greed walked forwards, still covered in shadow like a blanket. Hard eyes were made out in the darkness.

"You say you'll fight.. But I can smell your fear.."

Envy clenched his hands at his sides. His teeth grounded together so hard it hurt. He was scared to fight Greed, but now that the bastard was here, he wasn't going to back down and cry. _Not like before…_

Envy rushed forward, aiming to body-check the monster and follow-up with a round-house-kick. But, as he'd always known, Greed was so much better.

Greed grabbed Envy's shoulder and swung him into the harsh brick wall, Envy grunting at the impact. He didn't get any time to move when Greed rammed him so hard he felt a few ribs break with a sick series of "snaps".

"AUGH!" Envy cried out, eyes wide. He spat up blood and struggled to breath. He fell to the floor and curled up into a fetal position, nearly passing out with the pain. His breathing was labored, and a weird whistling was heard when he exhaled. His lung was punctured.

Envy groaned in pain as a hand pulled his shoulder and rolled him onto his back. A heavy weight settled on his thighs as Greed sat down and straddled him.

"I love how you've grown. You've matured well." The man sneered. Envy looked up at him from half-closed eyes. Though they were in the light, he still couldn't make out most of Greed's features.

He leaned down and crushed his lips to Envy's with bruising force. The younger male cried out in the back of his throat, but all it did was excite the older one.

"I missed this taste..." He breathed. He propped himself up on his right arm and reached back with his left, pulling a long dagger from a pocket. He sneered as Envy's eyes widened, laced with pain, when he flashed the shiny object in front of his face.

"I told you I didn't like these clothes..." He growled. He stuck the knife near Envy's chest and ripped upwards, cutting his small article of clothing from bottom to top and slashing a deep cut in Envy's chest. His yell of pain was only an incentive.

"You are going to pay dearly for what happened that day... I'm going to take you harder than I ever have before... And then again.. And again.. Until you can't even breathe, you'll be coughing up blood so hard!"

"S-stop.." A sharkish grin was all he got.

"..._Envy..._"

Edo? Why was he here?

"..._Envy..!"_

"Don't come!" He yelled, but was silenced as Greed claimed his mouth once again.

_"ENVY!"_

NO!

* * *

"ENVY!"

"HAAAAHHH!" Envy flew forward, yelling in panic. He breathed heavily, eyes wide and unseeing, slowly realizing that he was in his own room, sitting up in his own bed.

"Envy? Are you okay? I think you had a nightmare.." Ed murmured lightly to the older teen. So that's why he'd heard Ed's voice..

Envy reached out and wrapped his arms around the blond, who was sitting up beside him. Ed blushed at the contact, but felt uneasy at the lack of Envy's usual playfulness. They older male had his forehead rested against Ed's bare chest, and seemed to want nothing more than to get his breathing under control. Ed slowly, hesitantly, raised his own arms up and rested both hands on Envy's back, trying to be soothing despite his own embarrassment.

He was, and with a blush, glad that Envy had gotten him to sleep over and actually share a bed with him. Who knows what Envy would have seen in his nightmare if it had been allowed to go on.

Let's take a step back and see this from the start.

* * *

"Al is okay with it."

"Really? .. What did he say?"

"I told him that you were having problems, and that I was going to stay over for the night."

Envy played with a strand of his long hair. He was sitting on his couch with an open can of soda on the table. He'd been lying there since Ed called up Al and talked to him about staying over at Envy's house.

He had panicked the other day. When Ed had given him the glasses, he'd full-out panicked.

Terror-streaked memories ran through his mind like bullets, and he clearly wasn't thinking straight. It had been two nights since then, and not counting the constant watch from a posted officer, Envy didn't feel horrified by Greed anymore. A little fear, yes, but not horror. He felt ANGER.

He wanted his revenge on Greed for messing up his life for so long, though he most likely wouldn't get to extract it how he'd like. He probably _couldn't_, but in any case, he wanted to make sure that Greed was locked up for the rest of his miserable, filthy life.

Envy had felt downright scared when he'd received the notice in his locker that morning. "You're body has matured well. I can't wait to reclaim what is mine."

But now, Envy felt angry, and embarrassed at his fear. He wasn't some baby.. Greed was just trying to scare him into doing something stupid. It almost worked that other night. Had Ed not gone there to stop him, by the time Envy realized that he'd made a mistake in his terror, it would have been too late.

Ed had eventually found the letter, and insisted on staying over for the night, just for comfort. Envy had argued that he wasn't afraid anymore, and that he had, "that damn cop hanging a block down from his house", but Ed had seen through it and glimpsed the small well of nervousness that wouldn't go away.

Oh well. He'd argued over not being afraid, not whether or not he wanted Ed to come over. **That**, was a welcome offer no matter how you looked at it.

In any case, the younger brother had given Ed the "a-okay", and Envy had himself a cute little housemate.

Though Ed had seen through the playfulness too.

Envy was still worried about Ed. He, well, if he had to, he would fight until his last breath ('damn bastard messing with my mind.. I don't care how strong he is..'). He didn't care if he was being arrogant; he had a right to be pissed off. Ed however, he wasn't as confident for. The blond could fight, somewhat, but he was no Jet Lee. Envy worried about him.

Ed had countered the doubt with a confidence that surprised Envy. "He already knows that we're together by now if he's been watching you, and as long as we're together, we should be okay. Not to mention that we always have a cop near us!"

Yeah. The damn cops.

Though they provided a sound protection, Envy was on strict orders to be at school, or home. No other places accepted.

He felt like a little kid who'd been grounded. The stationed cops that were keeping an eye on him were set at the school and his house but they would not follow him around the city lest they blow cover, and Envy didn't like it one bit.

Ah well... He had Ed around for confidence and comfort at least (not to mention amusement).

Ed sat down on the couch near Envy. He fixed the older teen with an unreadable look. Envy stared back, but finally, his own agitated mind made him impatient (more-so than usual) and asked, "What?"

"You okay?"

Envy snorted and glared at the blank tv. "No. I just want this deal over with. I want that bastard behind bars or better yet, dead, for REAL, and I want these damn cops gone."

"We're going to get him." Envy glanced Ed, who had a small smile on his face. Envy sighed without looking away. "I'm glad one of us is so sure.."

Ed stared at his hands and thought to himself. He felt a little guilty about leaving Al for the night, but their father was coming home tonight anyways, so at least his younger brother wouldn't be alone. He'd just be all the more excited when Ed got home tomorrow after school.

Ed, unlike Envy, wasn't being watched by the police.

It wasn't very smart, but they hadn't come forward about their relationship to the police. Though Ed had sort of been forced to spill it at school (and it had spread like wildfire..), he wasn't sure he wanted all the complications of the police knowing and the information slinking back to his brother and father. He was not sure how they would take the information, and he had a slight fear of rejection, though most other parts of his mind scolded him for thinking like that.

Envy had argued that if Ed wasn't set up with a guard too, then he could be in danger, but Ed stuck firm that if he was with Envy as much as possible, he would be safe. Envy had been shocked however when Ed informed him that it wasn't the police that made him feel safe, but him, Envy. He'd also said that he wasn't going to be scared off.

It made Envy wonder whether Ed was running on Confidence Steroids or if he just didn't understand the gravity of the situation.

* * *

"Are you awake?"

Envy shifted, stretching fully against the couch and making Ed jerk a hand out to catch his balance.

They had agreed that with the house being watched, nothing was going to happen tonight. Also, nothing was going to get solved, so the two would try to keep the topic closed for the night and not let it ruin their time together. It seemed to work, and the two settled down for a more relaxing visit, a nice change from the last few days.

They had just finished a movie, since Envy wasn't allowed to go anywhere while under supervision, and it had been rather long. Ed had joined Envy since the beginning this time, though he was blushing red as a tomato, but had very much enjoyed lying against Envy and being gently rocked by his soft breathing.

Envy flicked Ed's cowlick and nipped at his ear suddenly as he got up. Ed's surprise and lack of Envy to lie against made him roll on his back, clamping a hand over the afflicted area and staring up at Envy in shock. Envy grinned back, a little less upset in his eyes than there was a few hours ago.

"You know, since you came over here without a change of clothes, maybe you'll borrow one of _my_ outfits.." He said, a sly tone in his voice.

Ed propped himself up on his arms and gave a, "you're unbelievable.." look to Envy. "I'll just wear these again, _thanks,_ it's not like they're dirty."

"Maa.. Whatever you want..." Envy shrugged. "Sou. Are you going to join me upstairs?"

Ed blushed from his hair to his toes, but turned his face away so that Envy couldn't see. "Ah.. umm.."

Envy got down on his knees and lay his head on his hands on the couch cushion near Ed. He happened to put his hands over Ed's that was being used to prop himself up, and that only made Ed flush worse. He glanced at Envy out of the corner of his eye, an anxious perplexed look on his face. Inside, he was smiling at Envy's more 'usual' behavior. It had rarely shown it's self since Greed had come into the picture (even their classmates had noticed Envy acting slightly more calm than usual).

Ed decided that this was a good an opportunity as any to give more comfort to the older male, and the more sly part of Ed's mind added that he wasn't getting a bad part of the deal either.

About twenty minutes later, Ed walked into Envy's room, and blushed all over again at the thought of sharing a bed with the wild-haired teen. Sure, they'd been on the couch all cozied up together, and that was still a big deal to Ed, but sharing a _bed_ was completely different, especially considering what they were trying to accomplish in their relationship.

Ed was about to faint when he saw Envy slide off his (rare pair of) loose black pants and tank top only to be left in silky black shorts. He looked down and tried to hide his face lest Envy see and poke fun.

A rustle of light covers and Envy purred, "Aren't you coming over, Edo?"

"A-ah... yeah.." Ed shuffled over and glanced at Envy, who had his head propped up on his hand. He was watching Ed with a Cheshire smile. Ed shivered just slightly, but resolved to just get it over with and strip down. Envy wanted to admire him, that wasn't a bad thing, right?

He lifted his arms and slid his shirt off, feeling a little wicked once he got into the spirit, and doing the action slower than he normally would have. Envy whistled lowly when Ed's finely toned upper-body (acquired through many hours of workouts that one wouldn't expect from such a 'school-guy') was revealed and chucked at the blonde's responsive blush. He slowly (out of shyness rather than to build desire) slid his tight leather pants off, and felt his face burn, though, in a more pleasant way than he usually did.

With only light blue boxers of his own, Ed hesitantly made his way over and glanced at Envy through his thick bangs, feeling intimidated but welcomed as Envy held the sheet up invitingly. With a shuddering sigh, he slid into the bed.

Nice cool sheets (a contrast to the warm day) slid like velvet against his exposed skin, though Envy's warm, bare arm soon did the same. Ed's breathing became slightly heavier as the electric touch danced up and down his side and back.

"E-Envy.. I, just... I don't want to do.. "it", tonight.. okay?"

Envy slid closer to him with a barely-suppressed predatory grin. "Alright. But let me 'acquaint' myself with you a little, ne?"

Ed looked a little nervous at the request, but also unmistakably intrigued by the thought. It made him wonder...

"You've _never_ done anything like this before, have you? Not so much as made out?"

"Tia asked me the same thing..."

"You didn't answer my question, Edo.."

"... No. I haven't. 'One partner' complex, remember?"

"Yeah..." Envy's rare smile turned a shade more sneaky. "Maybe I should give you some pointers for when we make out in the future."

Ed breathed in sharply at the blunt suggestion, but didn't get to think about it for long since Envy moved and claimed his lips, the first real kiss shared between them.

(AN: **First limey-action ever written people, note that I don't fully know what I'm doing!)**

It wasn't like the other times, Ed was actually _really_ _enjoying_ it this time. Envy was obviously trying to keep himself from rolling over and pinning the chibi, and Ed could feel it. The dark-haired teen's lips hungrily pressed against the smaller blonde's, and he wondered if he should further the kiss.

Hell, yes!

Long, slender arms wrapped around the smaller, more tanned body, and Envy's experienced fingers tangled themselves in Ed's hair, giving him quite a good grip as he pressed his lips all the harder against Ed's. The taste was intoxicating.. Exotic even. He felt a thrill of excitement as Ed's fingertips lightly placed themselves somewhere near his waist, but in no way indicated that he wanted Envy to stop.

It was the most amazing feeling, Ed had never felt anything so... Alluring. Envy's suppressed passion was already over-whelming, and it made his stomach spontaneously raise it's own population of butterflies at the thought of how much more the older male had to offer..

His eyes flew open in surprise to meet calming violet ones. Envy's tongue was pressing against his lower lip, begging for entrance. Ed didn't really know what to do, but he parted his lips and was blown away all over again as Envy's tongue eagerly explored his mouth. Ed has tasted Envy before, but he still couldn't think of anything that was even remotely similar to it. He didn't know that Envy was thinking the very same thing.

They parted for air, both breathing heavily. Ed's eyes were wide once again, his cheeks flushed. This was just...

"Amazing.." He gasped. Envy chuckled, wanting to have some _real_ fun, but deciding against it to honor his shy little partner's wishes. He didn't do it often, but he'd be careful with Ed while he was still new. The last thing he wanted right now was to scare him off.

"You haven't seen anything yet. When you're ready, I'll take you through so many levels of pleasure, you won't know what to make of it." Envy grinned. Ed's eyes narrowed, but in a playfully challenging way.

"And then you'd have to show me again.. wouldn't you?" When the words sunk in, both teens wore identical expressions of shock. "I can't believe you just said that.." Envy murmured with a growing smirk.

"Same here.." Ed blinked a few times. Envy's eyes flickered from Ed's face to his hair, and he lifted a hand to pull out the small band. Tossing it over the edge without a care, he slowly went to work on straightening out Ed's thick, golden hair. Ed blushed, and decided to return the favor, reaching up as well and taking Envy's ever-present headband between his fingers and slid it upwards, and over the thick emerald strands. He had to reach out further than he'd expected, making Envy chuckle, but he'd gotten it off, and lightly dropped it to the floor.

He hadn't realized that in his quest to reach far enough to move the band, he'd practically pressed right up against Envy's chest. With a small surprised "geh!" at the back of his throat, he stiffened like a board as Envy wrapped his arms around the blond and pressed them both up against each other as far as they would go. Ed was staring at the pale skin of Envy's throat, not an inch from his nose.

Envy was about to say something sly, to make the experience all the more fun, but it was replaced with a sharp intake of breath as he felt a distinct nip at his collar bone.

".. You did not just do that!" Envy said incredulously, looking down at the blond hair inches from his face. All he got in response was a kiss to the same area. "You're a little more experienced that you let on.."

"I'm a quick learner.." Ed got a chuckle in response. Ed looked up at the sly violet eyes looking at him fondly. "Remember when I told you that I'd had a dream about you?"

Ed cocked his head slightly, an adorable puzzled look gracing his features. "Yeah.."

"You said the same thing then." Envy's fond gaze seemed to falter, and the smallest shade of remorse snuck in. "So did I.. Back with _him_.."

Ed slid up until his eyes were level with Envy's, looking at him with a mix of emotions. "You're not like him. But forget about it for now, we agreed not to think about that, remember? Just focus on now." Ed gave a heart-warming smile to Envy, one which the wild-haired teen accepted gratefully. Forcing the sad thoughts away, he grinned widely.

"The 'now' seems much more favorable..." He said smoothly. He pressed his lips to the blonde's once again, and deepened the kiss once again, but what he didn't do again, was suppress the urge to roll over and pin the chibi.

Ed's breathing and heart beat sped up drastically as the larger teen straddled him and had a one hand supporting him near Ed's right shoulder, and the other tangled in his loose hair. The kisses were a little more sloppy, a little less refined.

Envy abandoned Ed's lips at last and lay them along his jaw line instead, occasionally alternating with small nips. The sensation reduced the blond to half-lidded eyes and the desperate urge not to out-right moan.

Envy grinned in his ministrations as he felt Ed's hands tentatively grip his shoulders. He'd done _that_ in his dream too. But the chibi wasn't as vocal as the dream had told. Aww, he'd have to fix that..

Envy's hand abandoned the golden locks and he shifted his weight over to it instead. With his right, he trailed it over Ed's finely-toned chest, feeling the well-developed abdomen, until finally, he reached under the band of the pale shorts..

The blond hadn't fully realized the descent; he'd been preoccupied with the green-haired teen's oral attack on his neck. He gasped and let out a small yelp at the sudden contact when Envy wrapped his hand around Ed's length. Ed had arched up too, not overly-so, but it made him blush furiously all the same.

"E-E-E-.." Ed couldn't speak, his jaw wasn't working. He stared up into calming violet ones, his own shining with nervousness.

"Don't tell me you haven't so much as jacked off before.." Envy smirked. Boy.. Could this one get any more innocent without being naive?

"..N..no.. b-b-b-b-b-b-.."

Envy reached down and silenced him with a forceful kiss. When he parted again, "I said I wouldn't screw with you tonight, but you have to let me at least show you a taste of what I can do for you..."

Ed had gone so scarlet he was making his hair look platinum blonde, but he couldn't bring forth any way to decline the offer, though frankly, he didn't think he wanted to. Envy wanted him to experience his first bout of real pleasure, and he wanted to do it NOW.

Envy gave him a final kiss, and Ed could swear his lips were swollen by now, and he slowly descended away from the blonde's sight, disappearing under the covers with a piercing look until the shadows stole his image away completely. Ed could feel Envy removing his boxers, and his body shifting around until he'd rested somewhere between his legs.

Ed threw his head back and tried to concentrate on breathing as Envy gently pushed Ed's legs up and apart, and wrapped an arm around each just for the sake of contact. He was almost chuckling to himself, because even though he'd chosen to sink out of sight, he could easily hear the chibi's failing attempts to control his breaths. He must be really excited...

Ed breathed in sharply as he felt something warm and moist run along his shaft. His eyes flew open and he reached down quickly to place his hand on Envy's (which had curled around to hold his thigh).

"Don't worry Edo, trust me, you'll like this." He heard come from somewhere under the covers. He made no noise, and just looked at the ceiling, a bead of sweat running down his temple.

Scrunching his eyes up and trying not to moan at all the swirling feelings in his gut, he shifted slightly when the soft, moist object ran along him again. But it was nothing compared to when Envy took him in his mouth completely.

Ed would have bucked at the sudden move, but Envy was already holding him down, for that specific reason. He chuckled, earning a rather frenzied reaction, which just caused him to chuckle more.

He stopped chuckling when Ed let a distinct moan escape his lips. Envy, for one, had been waiting for that. The chibi really wasn't all that vocal, it seemed. Must be all that pride...

Envy decided to play a bit, see what got him the strongest reaction. He tried a trick that he'd come up with just that moment, and saw that it did indeed get a reaction...

Ed gasped out Envy's name in shock as a single note rose in volume from under the covers. Envy was humming. It was driving Ed crazy.

"Ah.. E-Envy.." He wanted to grab hold of the older teen somehow while he was doing that, but knew he couldn't. "That feels..."

Envy swallowed suddenly, cutting the younger teen off and making him moan sharply. Ed couldn't believe the waves of pleasure brought up from such simple contact... He shakily got up and propped himself up on his right arm, pulling the covers back with his left. He lay eyes on Envy, who was nestled in between his legs and holding him in his mouth right to the hilt.

Envy looked up at the blonde awkwardly with an expression that unclearly read, "Lie the FUCK back down." Ed was shivering at the building tension in his lower regions and gasped, "I.. wanted to see you.."

Envy's gaze softened somewhat, but quickly turned evil, as he started humming again. The expression of unbelieving and pleasure on the blonde's face was enough to make Envy change his mind about not being able to see him.

Ed reached a hand out and placed it on the wild-haired teen's warm shoulder, and pleaded, he knew what was going to happen, but Envy wouldn't let him have it so easily.

"Please.. Ah... E-Envy.."

They locked gazes, and Envy knew that he may be the one sucking, but he easily had all the control. He stopped humming, and Ed couldn't help but squirm at the lack of release. "Please..."

'Ah, it's his first time. I'll make him beg for **real **some other time..' Envy thought to himself. He gave a good, evil look to Ed and swallowed hard, clenching the muscles in his throat especially tight and sending Ed right over the edge.

His entire body stiffened and his mouth opened in a low moan. Envy took the pause to get up and kiss those parted lips, letting their owner taste some small remnant of himself. He pushed the blond over and looked deeply into the pleasure-clouded eyes.

"How was that?" He said silkily, looking down at his little blond.

"... wow.." Envy chuckled at the lame response. He peered down near Ed's collarbone and saw that his mark was gone completely. With a hiss from the younger teen, he restated his claim via his teeth. A small amount of time was taken just to lick and 'kiss it all better'. Soon enough, Ed had a red, blue, and purple mark that honestly looked like the mother of all hickeys.

"I.. don't know whether.. I like.. or don't like that.." Ed said, slowly catching his breath. He moved his head to the side to peer at the angry bite mark.

"I'm marking what is mine, just deal with it Edo." Ed shot the older male a half-hearted glare. Envy got off of the chibi and plopped down beside him, stretching and looking like he was finally ready to sleep. He caught the surprised look from Ed, and chuckled.

"I don't expect you to do me tonight, Koi." Ed blushed at the term, but Envy continued, "I'm being nice and slow for you, but only this time." He smirked slyly and reached under the blankets, moving around for a few seconds until it was obvious that he was removing his boxers. Ed was already maxed-out on blushing, and didn't respond as Envy's plus his own boxers were fished out and dropped without a care onto the floor.

Warmth gathered around the two as Envy embraced his smaller blond, who embraced him back after a few seconds.

"I've never done that for anyone before. Blown anyone. Not even Greed." Envy murmured, resting his chin over soft golden hair. Ed shifted and replied, "Really?"

"Yeah. I never wanted to before. If he'd wanted, that bastard probably would have just made me do it, but he never dared." Envy smirked maliciously. "He was afraid I'd bite him."

Ed couldn't help but let loose a chuckle, and Envy smiled at that.

".. Thanks."

"No problem. You know, it ain't healthy for a guy your age not to know this kind of feeling."

"... If someone had told me a month ago that all this would be happening in a month, I would have just stared."

"If someone had told me I was going to settle down with one person, I would have laughed."

Both smiled at their own and each other's confessions, and reveled in the silence. Soon enough, Ed murmured " 'night Envy...", and a "mmhmm" signaled the two to drift off to their own respective night-thoughts.

Ed remembered thinking one thing rather clearly before he drifted off completely.

He liked Envy's scent.

* * *

(AN: Alright, now we're pretty much up to where the chapter started. Cue Envy having his nightmare..)

Ed didn't know whether his eyes were open or not, it seemed like whatever he was seeing was the same either way. He became aware of some movement however, and figured out that his eyes were indeed open, as he could faintly make out some brighter objects across the room. Not _his_ room however..

It took him about three seconds to remember where he was, and what had happened. He blushed just a bit, but it quickly dissipated as he noticed Envy's distress.

The older teen was squirming and murmuring, "stop.. stop.." quietly under his breath. Ed saw sweat collecting on his brow, and a look of pain on his face.

"Envy?" Ed tried, his voice rasping from the random use. There was no change, and Ed tried again, a little louder.

It was apparent he was having a nightmare, and Ed deemed it a worthy reason to use more force to wake him. He put a hand on Envy's sweat-slicked shoulder and shook him, calling his name. Finally, he yelled, which seemed to work and Envy shot up in bed yelling, startling the blond.

A few frenzied breaths, and Envy seemed to peer around, trying to make sense in the darkness. Ed tried his voice again, but quietly.

"Envy? Are you okay? I think you had a nightmare.."

Envy turned and looked at him, a lost look in his eyes. Without much warning, he reached out and embraced Ed, resting his forehead against the younger teen's chest and slowly tried to gain control of his breathing. Ed blushed a bit, but lifted his arms regardless and rested his hands on Envy's back as a sort of comfort. He found himself thankful that Envy had invited him over and had them share a bed. Nightmares were never fun, and he had a feeling he knew what this particular one was about.

After a minute or two, Envy slowly moved out of the embrace, his expression a little angry, and ashamed.

"What a baby. Scared of my own mind." He seethed. He glanced at his alarm clock and saw 4:34am glare back at him. He got out of bed (making Ed flinch and look away) and hunted for some clothes.

"Where are you going?" Ed asked, making as if to get up too. Envy didn't look at him, but slipped on some shorts he pulled out from under his schoolbag.

"I'm just going to stay awake, you, however, go back to sleep. Don't let me keep you up." He said. He didn't mean to sound cold, but he didn't want to talk about it right now.

Ed would have protested, but seemed to catch the thoughts, and decided it was best not to press his luck and possibly anger the older male. Envy left the room and pattered downstairs, leaving Ed to his own worried thoughts until sleep soon grabbed him once again.

* * *

Envy turned from his lounging position on the kitchen chair to see Ed slowly walk in. His expression deemed him still half-asleep.

"Morning, Koi." Envy purred (it means 'love'. Think short form of koibito(lover) if ya want). Ed glanced at the mug in his hand, and the coffee maker on the opposite counter, littered with small packets.

"It would have been cheaper just to take a caffeine pill.." He muttered. Envy laughed and replied that he'd tried one before. (Caffeine pill equals equivalent to 27 coffees)

"That time wasn't pretty. I don't intend to repeat it." Envy chuckled. He watched Ed with an interested eye as the blond slothed around the kitchen, looking for something to eat. When he finally settled on making himself a breakfast as opposed to heating up a past-meal, he asked Envy if he was hungry while he searched for bread, eggs, etc.

"You go ahead. I've eaten. And I think I've had about a half-dozen too many coffees to think about eating anything right now.." Envy trailed off. The chain coffee was keeping him relatively calm right now, but he could see himself going nuts in a half-hour or so.

The time at Envy's house flew by rather quickly, the first half nice and slow, perfect for waking up in, and the second punctuated by Ed's yells of surprise every time caffeine-high Envy decided to spring on him. When came time to leave, Ed was VERY hesitant to get on the bike.

"Maybe we should just take the bus.."

"Get on the Bike or I'll pin You to the Ground until I'm not Hyper anymore." Envy chirped, stressing random words. Ed swore his eye twitched.

* * *

He stumbled off the bike, landing flat on his face, but it saved him the time of bending over to kiss the ground.

He'd long abandoned yelling, and had been pure out screaming the last bit of the insane ride. Envy seemed to deem it worthy to pull every kind of psychotic trick and stunt he could possibly do without injuring either of them. Ed just looked up wearily as Envy locked the motorcycle to it's stand and literally pranced around the back to retrieve their bags.

Never Again. Would he be allowed that much caffeine. (AN: My friend T-chan can relate, she's seen me on Nesquik cereal or however you spell it..)

"Come on, Edo, get up! We're going to be late!" He pretty much sing-songed, and Ed could only reply with a, "Why the hell would **you** care if you're late?"

The older teen seemed to think on it a moment, coming up with a shrug, and racing off in the direction of the doors with both their bags, and without Ed. Said blond got up with an indignant squawk and tore off after him.

He had to fight the crowds, as all the students were arriving now that the first bell was qued to go off soon. Ed made it to the second, and soon, the third floor, where his first class was. He hadn't made it to his locker yet, and out of no where Envy appeared and pinned him to the wall of lockers.

"Ah! Envy! But-"

"Everyone knows, Edo, why bother hiding it now?" He said, his lips hovering over the shorter teen's. Ed made a disapproving noise in the back of his throat, but sighed when he figured this battle would get him no where. Envy took the sign and kissed him hungrily, making the blond wonder just **how** many coffees he'd had, since the taste of it was so strong (even through the mint of his toothpaste!).

A whistle and some grouchy muttering was audible, but no one dared bother the couple. Envy was one of the two, meaning anyone who disturbed him may end up either beaten blue, or in his prey's place (even though in this particular instance, they most certainly would **not**. But they didn't know that).

The warning bell rung out and Envy stopped his assault, taking a look at his flustered little blond. His lips were slightly swollen from the rough kisses.

"Shall we go?" He purred, his face sly despite his current caffeine high. Ed just shook his head at the antic and got off the lockers, walking towards his own, Envy in tow. He saw that his bag was leaning against his locker, and shot the wild-haired teen a look as the ambush was obviously planned.

He fiddled with his lock and opened the door, face-faulting as Envy proudly announced that he'd memorized the combination. Swapping certain items between locker and bag, he closed it again and went for his first period class (not a few meters away).

After he took his seat, Envy following suit, he immediately felt his hair being toyed with, but felt no exasperation at the contact unlike what it had brought before. He turned slightly and looked at Envy.

"You're energetic now, but that instant stuff is going to wear off soon. You'll be dead tired before class ends." Envy merely shrugged and continued tracing the tight patterns in Ed's braid with a bored expression.

* * *

Ed had been right about Envy's instant drinks.

Scieszka had been giving them a lecture for the first half of class, and though Envy had had enough caffeine in him to stay awake (and vent his boredom on Ed) for most of it, the second it wore off was the same second he slumped on his desk and zonked out harder that a train crash.

Finally, Scieszka noticed the sleeping teen and asked Ed to wake him up. Ed sweat dropped, replying that he didn't think _anything_ would wake him up at this point.

"Please try, if it doesn't work, then you can leave him and he'll have to ask someone to borrow their notes after class." She said with a small smile. "Anyways, when we take a look at-"

Ed swerved in his seat, nudging Envy with his hand and whispering for him to wake up. He got no response, and was going to give up, not really wanting to bother the teen anyways, but Marcus reached over with a smirk and took one of Envy's ears between his fingers and twisted harshly.

"AAAAHHHH! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Envy screeched, holding his abused ear in one hand and pointing accusingly with the other. Laughter rose up from most of the class, and Scieszka tried futilely to calm them down again. Marcus was laughing the hardest, pointing back at Envy, but in mirth.

Ed reached back and gently replaced Envy's hand with his own, rubbing the tips of his fingers over the pink skin soothingly. He didn't know what possessed him to do that, especially in front of the whole class, but he earned himself a surprised, and then grateful look. The exchange caused the entire class to shut up and stare.

Ed turned back around quickly, in embarrassment, and Envy glanced at Marcus with a bored look. "He just saved your life, thank him."

The tall teen clapped his hands together and mock-bowed in his seat towards Ed, obviously being sarcastic, but gaining himself some chuckles. Scieszka took advantage of the silence to continue her lecture.

Ed zoned out soon enough, staring flatly but lost in his own thoughts. Currently, he was mulling over his sexuality. Again. (and of all things during class, too.)

Since he was with Envy now, and he was not looking for another person to be with, he was gay. He knew there were probably people who were going to be angry and prejudice against him for it, but it was his own choice. He hope that the angry and prejudice people wouldn't include his family..

The thought that some people may attack him for being gay, or for just being with Envy, had occurred to him. He'd concluded that Envy would protect him, seeing as he himself was not exactly confident about fighting, especially against multiple people. He had also come to the decision, that since Envy can't be there for him all the time, he would just have to get stronger.

He would ask Envy some time to maybe show him how to fight (or at least use self-defense), and be a little tougher, lest he was ever confronted with malicious intent.

But for now, he'd have to busy himself with the laughter as Scieszka called his name repeatedly, snapping him out of his mulling and lecturing him for spacing out.

* * *

"It looks like someone ate this before I got it." Envy said distastefully, poking at his lasagna. It was the special being served at the cafeteria, and one of his friends in line had dared him to get it. It honestly _did_ look like it had been thrown up.

"That's disgusting. If you don' like it, then don't eat it." Ed muttered, chomping down on his hotdog. Despite the lasagna being served horribly, the food was rather good and came in a plentiful variety.

The two teens had decided to grab an easy lunch and eat in the cafeteria. They would have eaten outside, since it was so warm out, but it was also kind of blustery, though it was only supposed to be like so for the morning and early afternoon. So now they had picked out a lone table and sat across from one another.

Envy pointed at Ed's soda and asked, "The hotdog came with milk, didn't it? Why would you pay extra?"

Ed shrugged and swallowed his mouthful. "I hate milk." He clamped his teeth down on the food again. Envy grinned widely and said, "Oh.. That's too bad.."

Ed looked at him with a puzzled expression, and took a second to think about it. Suddenly, getting the joke, he hacked on his food whilst Envy laughed his head off. He was making a habit of practically making his chibi choke..

"I'm eating!" Ed yelled indignantly, finally getting the food to go down properly. What a thing to say..

Envy shrugged, and decided to change the topic. "Hey, that was pretty out of character for you in Havoc's class."

Ed looked thoughtful, then blushed lightly, remembering when he'd comforted Envy after Marcus had pulled his mean little stunt. "I felt bad about that, I was supposed to wake you up, but I was going to just give up after trying a couple times."

"Who told you to wake me up? That supply? Blah, what a joke." Envy muttered, leaning his head on his arms on the table after pushing his food tray away.

Ed gave him a slight disapproving look, and spoke in a rather mature voice. "You know, maybe you should try harder to stay awake in class."

"Why?" Envy shot him a raised brow. "Not like it's important."

Ed scoffed. "Maybe not to you! And in any case, you may use the information later."

"The shit we're being taught is important to you? How so?" Envy asked, ignoring the second part of Ed's comment and propping himself up on his elbows.

"I, for one, am working to be a scientist. My classes are important to me so I can better understand biomechanics and related."

"... What the hell for?"

"You've met my brother." Ed said, and took a sip of his soda. "I'm working on a way to create artificial limbs that will connect to the actual nerves and be able to send and receive messages to the brain just like regular limbs. Then I want to work on making the technology available all over the world!"

Envy stared, only catching about half of what had been said. Ed's expression turned flat, and he simply summed it up to, "Fake legs that he can move mentally."

"Ah! Okay." Envy exclaimed and was all smiles. Anything even remotely school-related bored him, so the short bit about what he'd wanted to do was rather blurred to him. It was like an automatic filter for school-stuff.

"Well, that's chivalrous of you. What a nice boyfriend I have!" He joked, poking at Ed's arm while the other blushed.

* * *

The Thursday had finished up quickly, and the Friday after it. Ed and Envy had gotten together for a while on Saturday, and Ed had made a comment about how Greed hadn't made any moves yet. Envy had mentioned with suspicion that he had probably already been alerted to their involvement with the police, and was being cautious. Ed didn't know what to think about that, but was glad they were safe and sound in the meantime.

Sunday had slinked along, in which Ed stayed home and worked around the house with Al, occasionally checking with their father to see how he was making out with his own work. Though the man had been home for the last few days, he was rarely seen around the house, he was usually doing paperwork in his office. This Sunday was the last night he had to be at home, and on the following Monday morning, he had to leave again to go back to his traveling work.

Al wanted to make a bigger meal than usual as a form of goodbye (even though it was Ed's turn to cook), and he'd had a roast going all day in the crock-pot. Later in the day is where we join the two brothers in the kitchen, where Ed decided to help Al prepare the food since it was more glamorous than usual.

"Nii-san! Here's the list!" Al said cheerfully. He rolled over to Ed, who was almost at eye-level with the younger teen. Al had one of those expensive wheel-chairs with the raisable seats so he could reach the stove. The wheels were too far down for him to reach, but the chair was remote-controlled, though Al much preferred to move under his own strength rather than by the dials on the arm rest (which rose up with the seat.) Sure, Al needed help getting things from cupboards and such, but they managed.

Ed took the list being offered to him, and nodded at the few items written there. They were nearing the later preparations of the meal, but Al had underestimated the supply of some things, and had asked Ed to quickly run out to the small convenience store two blocks down (on the same street as the school).

"Okay, I'll be back in a bit." Ed said cheerfully. He always felt happier when his brother was so dedicated and chipper over something, even if it was a simple as making a meal. He put the list in his pocket and left the kitchen, walking out the front door seconds later.

It was still bright out, being roughly six o'clock. It would be dark in a mere couple hours, but it was better than winter. Speaking of which, even though today marked October 4th, it was still rather warm out. It struck Ed as unusual, though no one else seemed to be interested in it, so it must be normal for this area. The nights were getting gradually cooler though, so the colder months were apparently inching their ways forth.

In any case, the welcome warmth of the sun that would soon be setting accompanied Ed through his short journey to the convenience store. About ten minutes was used to find and purchase the items, and the storekeeper waved him off cheerfully as he left.

Ah yes, the sun was still shining, the warm air still settling like a thin blanket.

But.. If the sun as so cheerful in it's last hours, and the day not yet over,

Why had everything suddenly gone dark?

* * *

I bet everyone thought I'd forgotten the major angst of this chapter... False sense of security there, kiddies! Watch out.. This is gonna be rough...

* * *

Ed groaned, and slowly reached to feel the back of his head. Why on _earth_ did it hurt so much? When he felt something that was a combination of sticky and warm, and hard and cool, he realized that the back of his head was actually **bleeding**. And by the feel of it, had been for a while.

The smell assaulted his nose not a few seconds later, and he opened his eyes blearily to see that he was in a car, and the one in the driver's seat was dead. His eyes widened and took in the image with horrifying detail, the knife in the poor man's forehead, the mouth frozen in a yell that had been muffled, and his hand, reaching down for a gun that hadn't been there.

"Awake?"

Ed's attention turned to the seat beside him, and he took a second to notice that he had been sitting up in the back seat. In the seat to his left however..

The streetlight was on, illuminating the slain man, but the person in the back was consumed by shadows. He looked back at the dead man, and to his mounting fear, realized it was the policeman that he and Envy had met while talking to the authorities. He was one of the two that were watching the school and Envy's house. Since it wasn't school time, they must be in the undercover car of the man keeping guard of Envy's house, meaning the person sitting beside him must be...

"Figured it out yet?" Greed sneered, finally coming into focus as Ed's eyes adjusted to the darkness in the back. His mouth was drawn back, and showed off his abnormally sharp teeth. Ed's breathing became rushed, and he turned to the door and tried to open it hastily. Locked. A quick glance told him that there was no manual lock. He was trapped in the back of a car with a psycho.

"You know, I've had no end of problems since you got Envy to squeal. It's your fault I'm going to have to leave for a while. Also, Envy seems to have taken quite the liking to you, though I can see why.." The older man placed his hand on Ed's thigh, and Ed immediately shifted away as far as he could. He was stating to panic, and could see why Envy had before. This was downright scary..

"How did you know! The police were being as quiet as possible!" Ed said quickly, trying to calm down. Irrationality would do him no good. Greed chuckled darkly, the noise raspy and cruel.

"I have his house bugged. Been like that for a while now." He replied. Ed was subtly trying to peer around the car, looking for an escape while the psycho spoke. He felt like he was going to be sick, not only from his own panic, but from the smell of the dead man in the front.

Greed was well aware of the blonde's attempts to find an escape route, but didn't bother to stop him. There was no way out for him anyways.

"I'm not letting you out yet, kid. I have business with you first." His face turned even crueler as his ugly smirk grew wider. "W-what business.." Ed stuttered, slowly realizing he may just have to fight for his life…

"If you think I'm going to kill you, you can relax a bit, I don't plan on it." He said, though Ed did not such thing. Then.. No...

"I want to hurt Envy, hurt him for all the pain I had to go through after his little challenge. Hurt him for healing what never should have been fixed. Hurt him for trying to move on!" He yelled the last bit, anger in his eyes. He composed himself, and looked at Ed again.

"I could go and abduct him now, but that would be no fun. Plus, with the trouble he's bound to cause, I'd end up with some _complications_ that would jeopardize my leave of the country. So to punish him until I return once the heat is down," His eyes became lustful, "I'm going to rape you. Let's see how he deals with his 'lover', traumatized beyond repair."

(AN: WARNING. SLIGHTLY GRAPHIC. SCROLL DOWN IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT.)

There wasn't anything Ed could do as Greed slid towards him. He raised a leg and tried to kick him in the face, but it proved to be a bad move.

The older male grabbed hold of Ed's ankle and pulled hard, turning Ed and making him fall back on to the hard seat. The older male crawled over and lay his full weight on the teen, loving how he struggled and fought to breathe.

"Get off! I won't let you do this!"

"Oh, it's far too late." Greed replied. He reached back and pulled out his trusty switch-blade, to which Ed panicked all the more. He used the blade to cut Ed's shirt right off, leaving the blond with a few slashes himself, from both his own struggling, and Greed's own malice, since half the slashes were just for his own amusement.

"Get off me.." Ed snarled, though his eyes were burning. He pushed futilely at Greed's chest, trying to move him, but the older male simply tutted at the attempts.

Ed didn't back down, he wasn't going to just lie here and be taken like this, so he gathered his nerve and right out punched Greed right in the face. He yelped and cradled his hand afterwards; the guy's face was like rock!

"Metal plates, I have them all over the place. All thanks to Envy's little game. I had to be awake and without anesthetic every time one of those little bitches were implanted under my skin. Guess it doesn't help you much, does it?" Ed glared at Greed, his eyes half-closed at the multiple slashes on his upper body that were causing him pain. He noticed something rather important though while the other talked however.

Seeing as it moved normally as he talked, Ed swung the back of his fisted hand hard against Greed's throat, earning him the immediate reaction of choking and the older male clutching the area. He didn't even get time to revel his small victory however, because Greed rose his switchblade up and slammed it deep into Ed's shoulder past the hilt.

His scream was muffled in a second, and the blade retrieved, causing the blood to rise up like a slow fountain.

"Nice move, kid, but now I'm not playing nice anymore." He rasped. Getting up, he grabbed the blond by his shoulders and attempted to flip him over, though Ed was struggling as much as he could. When Greed finally did get him on his stomach, he put his right arm on his back and leaned in heavily, utterly pinning the teen. He was about to whisper something horrible, but was cut off.

"(sttzt) Farner? You're an hour late on your call-in. Please report immediately. (tsszt)"

Greed propped up higher (causing all the more stress to be placed on Ed's back), and glared at the radio in the front of the car. Huh, so the stationed cops were doing call-ins..

"(tzzst) Farner? Reply immediately. Farner? (tsst)"

Ed heard the voice and turned in the direction of the small machine. He couldn't see it, but maybe someone could hear him..

"Help! Please! Help m-"

"Shut up." Greed ordered calmly, slashing the poor boy deeply across the back. Ed cried out in pain and clenched his hands, shutting his eyes tightly.

"What a bother.." Greed muttered. The radio had to be sending for the other side to hear anything, so Ed's cries fell on deaf ears. But he still found it annoying. He pulled out a small radio himself and hit the sending button, so his message would be heard on the other end.

"I need a stall for twenty minutes or so." He said, getting a weasly voice on the other end reply with a sharp, "Okay!" He put the radio back just as the police one sizzled back to life.

"(sttzzt) Farner, if you can hear me, we're sending a couple of patrol cars your way. We have the right to assume you are in danger. Sit tight. (sttz)"

"Well, now. Seems as if our time has been cut short. I may not end up fucking up your head as much as I'd like to. Oh well, there's always a 'next time'." He said, the malice dripping off his voice. Ed tried to struggle again as Greed reached down to pull off his pants.

Getting tight leather pants off an unwilling person was harder than it sounded, but Greed managed to do it without resorting to his knife. Ed's boxers followed soon enough, and with three more angry slashes across his back and his hair having a vice-like hand in it, he could only snarl garbled words and yell in anger and embarrassment.

Greed wasted no time, he didn't have much, and he dropped his own pants. Ed could hear the action and yelled, trying to rip himself away again, but not getting anywhere.

Without warning, without preparation, without anything, Greed forced into him roughly. The scream would have echoed and been heard houses down had the older male not choked Ed at the same time with his hand.

Keeping one of the blonde's smaller hands forced down with his own, and the other wrapped around Ed's throat, Greed picked up a harsh rhythm, choking the boy every time he tried to scream.

Finally, when he climaxed, and it was harder than he'd had in a very long time, he didn't choke his prey and Ed screamed, screamed with the pain like he'd never felt before, screamed until he tasted blood.

The teen collapsed, his breathing shallow and raspy. He was shivering and crying. Greed pulled out roughly, earning a final weak cry, and pulled his pants back on. He had to bolt, and soon. The scream was meant to alert his soon-to-be target, and Envy was sure to come scrambling out in seconds.

He opened the door to his side and got out leisurely, looking down the street for motion. Sure enough, he saw the door to Envy's house open, and a figure step out. Some other doors opened as well, but he paid them no attention.

Envy must have seen Greed standing in the lamplight, because he immediately ran down the steps and bolted in his direction. Greed made no motion except putting his hand on his waist until he could see Envy's enraged face.

"YOU FUCKING **BASTARD! **THAT WAS ED! **WASN'T IT! **I'LL KILL YOU!" He screamed, and tried to ram into the older male. Greed took the collision, and only had to step back once. He hammered his fist into Envy's middle, sending the teen to the ground.

"This was the faults of both of you. I have to leave for a while now, here's your parting gift." A hand waved over in the direction of the car. He sneered as Envy slowly got back up, ready for another round. "I'll be back soon enough though, to pay you back for the four years of surgery and recovery I had to go through. You know," He dodged a punch aimed at his face. "I went to collage for most of those years, to pass the time. Pretty boring." He said, throwing his hands up in a shrug.

Envy roundhouse-kicked Greed in the side suddenly, but crumpled to the ground and held his leg in pain. Greed grinned at him.

"Plating, you little bastard. Plating. And you'll be feeling every single one of them when I see you next. Ja, ne." He said conversationally, despite the circumstances. He walked up to the sleek black car across the street and drove away, laughing. Envy spat in his direction and got to his feet shakily.

He walked over to the dull brown car and felt his heart crush as he saw the unmistakable form of Ed lying there, broken and bloody. He got in half-way and recoiled at the stench of the dead man not a foot away in the front seat, but quickly turned to his little blond.

"Edo.. Oh god..." He could barely speak, and he said nothing as a lady in a nightgown came up to him and nervously asked what had happened. Seeing the bodies in the car, she gasped and ran away, planning to call the police that were already coming.

Envy placed his fingers on a part of Ed's shoulder that wasn't cut, or bruised. He flinched at the contact, but made no other response.

"Edo? It's me, Envy." He tried, choking on his own words. Ed heard him, and to Envy's surprise, he slowly lifted himself up, forcing himself in a sitting position and turning to see the green-haired teen. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words were lost before they started.

Envy didn't notice, he was focused in horror on Ed's eyes.

They were blank.

* * *

_No one heard the muffled screams,  
__No one came to help._

_His suffering fell on uncaring ears,  
__As that man violated his self._

_His eyes are blank,  
__He's trapped in his own mind._

_This is the _Beginning,  
Of **B r o k e n** Pride.

* * *

The Pride!Arch Begins.

Seven Virtues;

Chapter 15 - A Question of Fortitude


	15. A Question of Fortitude

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

**Cat**: ... I'm back?  
(Swamped with tears, praise, anger, pats-on-the-back, beatings, and general ruckus)  
**Seira:** (Pointing and laughing hysterically)  
**Cat**: HELP!  
**Kit:** Okay... Occupied... Let's move on to notes for the readers...

Notez 4 teh readerz:

**1. **There was a surprisingly high number of responses to Envy's calling Ed "koi." Yes, I'm aware that it is a type of fish as well, but I'm using it for it's "love" meaning. Though Fish!Ed is appealing and all, I'd rather stick to it's alternate meaning.. (chuckling)  
**2. **To Sephiroth: Ack! Don't skip to the end first! Your fear of the chapter now is precisely why you shouldn't! Shamez0rz on you! Lol, well, to which our own, I guess... Don't worry, the whole chappie isn't angsty, it's just the end that is. It's **supposed** to be all light and fluffy and limey and calming until I **BLOW THE DAMN THING SKY HIGH WITH ANGST! HAHAHAHAHA!  
****3. **Ack! People are actually torching Kit! I didn't mean it! It was a joke! I love my Kit-chan, don't hurt her! (Glomps unwilling said-muse who is burnt and pissed off.)  
**4. **Snowbluerat: I LOVE omg reviews. (laughing) Sorry, I do. Alas for me, this arch is very calm in comparison to the others though, and as far as I've planned, there are NO CLIFFHANGERS for the duration of the entire arch. Blah...  
**5.** To everyone who said, "Can't always have happy chapters/stories", or, "blarg blarg Fuck you Greed!", I totally agree with you all. I may be writing this story, but it's coming to me as randomly as you all read it. I'm fangirling and crying about the same things you all fangirl and cry about respectively.. Just.. I have to go through the scenes slower and that makes for quite the hot knife in the back when come angst.. (cries) The rape scene was harsh...  
**6.** No gift list today, my AN is too long already, I'll start it again next chappie. I'll also put up the whole list of everything given next chappie, since you guys are nice enough to give them, and I will be nice enough to shoutout for them! I'm going to specifically mention all the creatures in my zoo, since there is a truckload of animals now. I think I may just go ahead and write a crack one-shot of Ed and Envy going to this zoo.. Just for you guys.. (dies)

**Kit:** ... Your AN is.. big.  
**Cat:** ... I know. I fail.  
**Seira:** (reading future notes for SH) This is your Pride? It's like a weird Pride!Ed/Veggie!Ed cross.  
**Cat:** (snatches) Don't read that! My precious... And yes.. I have lots of BBI's Veggie!Ed in there, just 'cause it works...  
**Phoenix:** ...  
**Cat:** ... On with the chapter...

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 15 - A Question of Fortitude

* * *

Envy watched Ed. The blonde was lying back in the clean, crisp hospital bed.

He himself was sitting in the chair, his arms folded and keeping his pained gaze on the younger teen.

Since Envy had found him in the car, he hadn't spoken. His eyes were completely devoid of any emotion, any hint to what he was thinking. Like there was a wall there, or maybe, nothing at all.

Right now, those eyes stared up at the white ceiling, blinking slowly ever so often. After being carefully guided to the police car the night before, he had made no response to anything. Not words, not actions, nothing. It was like he'd lost his soul.

Now, such a thing was not provable, but some of the doctors had come up with a small bit of a theory about what Ed was doing. They said he was attempting to cope with the cruelty he'd been put through, and had locked himself away deep in his own head. They had no idea how much of him was damaged, how much was being boxed in, or how much of him would be lost forever.

Envy's heart pounded harder for a single beat as Ed blinked. It did that every time the blond moved, even in the slightest. He himself was calm and quiet now, though he hadn't been earlier that day.

_"I TRUSTED YOU EDO! YOU SAID EVERYTHING WOULD BE **OKAY!"**_

Envy clenched his hand into a fist with the memory. He'd broken a hospital vase in his rage, that time. It was a good thing he'd gotten control over himself, the hospital freaks probably would have sent white-jackets after him...

Envy shifted on the uncomfortable chair, but didn't take his eyes off the chibi. He was grateful that he was alone right now, he didn't know if he could stay as calm as he was had someone else been there.

Yeah. Like Al, or Ed's father, Hoho-somthing.

He sighed. He'd been forbidden to ride with Ed to the hospital; he was immediately seized for questioning of the events. During the blur of words, anger, and anguish, Al and their father had been relayed the information about he and Ed after Envy had been forced to give it up. The police were able to fit the right pieces together, and had made him explain everything.

Al hadn't spoken to him yet, he barely looked at him. However, Hohenheim had talked to him this late morning during the silence of the room. He'd told the father how long, how far, how much they meant to each other. Envy still didn't know whether or not he'd been accepted.

He hadn't been forbidden to see Ed while he recovered from his injuries, so he took that as a good sign. Though when Al had been in earlier, Envy was sure the younger teen had been watching him as well, a deep tension in his gaze.

Speaking of the younger one, Al opened the door quietly and slipped in. He'd had to leave for an hour, but was right back again. Envy was sure that Hoho-something would be back in all too soon as well.

The silence grew a bit uncomfortable, and Envy refused to look away from Ed.

"... Do you blame yourself?" Envy didn't acknowledge the question at first, but answered after a moment.

"Yes."

"I blame you as well." Envy breathed in deeper at the tone, or lack thereof. He slowly unglued his gaze from the motionless blond and looked at the other one.

Al hadn't a shred of a hint that he regretted his words, or that he was indecisive about his thinking. He gazed back at Envy with determination. It reminded Envy of a certain other blond..

"I'm not going to judge your relationship with my brother until he is better, and has a chance to tell his side. I'm also not going to judge against you as a person until I know you better. But I am not going to take back my words; I believe that this could have been prevented."

Envy stood up abruptly in anger, glaring at the younger teen. _"I don't need you to tell me that!"_

Al didn't flinch in the least at the harsh reaction, instead, tried to calm things down a bit. He didn't want a fight. "I know. I'm sure if you knew this was going to happen, you would have done everything in your power to prevent it. If indeed you do care about my brother as strongly as you claim."

Envy didn't say anything, and merely stood still, surveying the brother. Was he trying to be indirectly soothing?

"But the fact remains. This happened, and it's going to hurt him, possibly haunt him for the rest of his life. But I know he's going to get better, I have faith in him. You however, need to fix as much as you can for now. No more secrets from the police, or me and our father. The man who did this has to be caught, and you must do everything you can to make it happen."

Envy looked a little awed, and on the inside, was VERY awed. That right there, was permission to protect and help Ed. Al was telling him to stay and lend his strength.

(AN: Aww, gag me with a rose and call me Shakespeare.. )

Envy narrowed his eyes, and glared at a random spot on Ed's bed. "That fucker will be caught, don't you worry. I'll make sure he pays..." He didn't notice Al's small flinch at his choice of words. So far, Al had gathered a small bit on Envy, and most of it was made up of his rough nature and out-of-the-park attitude. He doubted Envy would still be here though if he hadn't have cared about Ed.

This had been his brother's decision, to be, 'involved' with this other.. guy. That was what Al had concluded. Something about this wild teenager was making his brother want to turn away from a normal relationship, jeopardize his reputation, and possibly get himself into trouble. Like now.

Al surveyed Envy subtly, and told himself that he had already decided to wait and talk to his brother. When he was better. And he **would** be better. Al was positive.

As Al led his thoughts away from his brother's relationship, he slowly drifted into a cold silence, trying his hardest not to think indecently and run a thousand ways of torture he'd like the man who did this to be put through.

It was harder than you'd think.

* * *

Tuesday.

Ed had been in the hospital Sunday night, and most of Monday. Now, after school (which Envy did not go to) on Tuesday, he couldn't stand being away from his blond a moment longer.

A rushed drive with more ferocity than he meant to use, and he arrived at the Elric house in a torrent of noise. He yanked his hair-tie off and put it on the handle bar, and paced up to the front door.

A moment after knocking, Hohenheim answered the door, not looking surprised at all at his (for once) properly dressed visitor. Envy was welcomed in, being told that he was expected.

"How is he?" Envy asked quietly, aching to go upstairs and check for himself.

"He's been very quiet. He has hardly left his bed at all." The tall man replied, looking a little distant. The worry had been eating him alive, and though his colleagues had pestered him about not being back on time, he blatantly told them he was taking time off, whether or not he was allowed to.

Al rounded the corner from the kitchen and saw Envy standing there. He'd heard the teen's voice, and came to greet him. It wasn't that he was overly-happy at seeing him, just because he was so polite. He was a little surprised to see Envy wearing long jeans and a dark blue shirt that covered most of his arms. It wasn't like him to be so modest, as far as Al had gathered.

"Good afternoon. Are you here to see Niisan?" He asked. His voice didn't have the same pep that it usually had, and it gave him away for the internal storm he was fighting.

"Yeah. Wanted to see how he was doing..." Envy said, trailing off. He felt odd right now, just being invited right in to see Ed. Worked, either way.

All three heads snapped up in surprise when a sharp creak was heard. All eyes redirected to the top of the stairs, where none other than Ed was slowly descending. He hadn't been heard until then because of the good condition of the hall and stairs, so the creak had been quite a shock.

"Niisan?" Al questioned, wheeling closer to the stairs. Hohenheim stood quietly, though no less surprised. Envy felt his heart clench at the sight.

The slow descent was not without pain, Ed had to hold the rail and he was trying hard to keep himself steady. There were bandages all over the place where his light pajamas were not covering. Envy noticed with wide eyes that his face was **exactly** as it was before. Emotionless and blank.

When he made it to the bottom, he slowly padded over to Envy and, to everyone's surprise, put his arms around the taller teen's middle and just stood there, hugging him without the slightest change of expression.

There was general silence, until the oldest person in the house finally broke it.

"I guess he missed you." Hohenheim said, scratching the back of his head with slight confusion. He would have never guessed that Ed would willingly want to come into contact with people in such a manner, at least for a long time. Even with him and Al, Ed seemed almost to shy away slightly, like he was uncomfortable.

Envy was still looking down at the blond in surprise, but got over some of it enough to raise his own arms and embrace him back. Ed seemed to hold on to him tighter, though his face stayed blank as ever.

"Ano... ah.. Would you, like some tea?" Al tried softly, turning away a bit in embarrassment.

"Um.. Sure.." Envy replied slowly. He tried to move as if to walk to the living room, and was relieved somewhat when Ed stopped hugging him and moved with him. Only when he sat down on the couch did Ed let go of him completely.

Al left to prepare the tea, and Hohenheim sat down in a chair opposite to Envy and his son. Ed was sitting by Envy, but he wasn't touching him in the slightest, and his face was angled down. Curious.

Envy said nothing, and glanced over at the silent blond beside him. He had no words for this; he'd worn them to nothing over the nights since it had happened. Finally, Al came back with a platter of tea and cups on his lap.

The cups were filled, and one offered to Ed, but as to be expected, he made no response. Envy took a sip of his own, but put it down quickly after another glance because he swore he was going to choke up.

_'The one person who wanted to love you was hurt because of you..'_

Envy closed his eyes tightly. Even now, it amazed him how much it hurt. He'd known Ed for a short while.. Been together with him even shorter.. And when everything seemed to be okay, this happened, and it was like his world had a giant metaphorical sword jammed through it.

His pained gaze was torn unwillingly from the quiet figure, who hadn't moved since he sat.

Both Al and Hohenheim by this point had noticed the true pain, the same pain they were feeling. Al felt a little more respect for Envy, and Hohenheim felt relief. Relief at many things.

The visit was short, and not very big on conversation. Envy left with little consolation and a heavier feeling in his chest. Little did he know of the events that fate had in store for him...

* * *

Thursday

Envy was in a sour mood. He was lying on his couch with no aim in mind, and not feeling like doing anything. He hadn't seen Ed all day, and was wondering if he should go visit.

Envy wanted to make it **very** clear that he cared for Ed, he wasn't going to shy away and hide, unless Ed didn't want to see him. And so far, no such thing was indicated. Ed always seemed to be able to get up and greet him in his silent way, even though his brother and father swore he'd been quiet and shut up in his room since Envy's last visit. It was obvious to him that his presence seemed to pierce the fog that gripped Ed and shine some kind of welcome ray.

What a romantic.

Envy cracked himself in the head with his knuckle and got up, deciding to move his ass and go see his little blond. A few minutes later, and he was straddling his motorcycle, ready to take off.

The wind tugged at his partially restrained hair, also trying it's hardest to bite at his skin. Envy was wearing a modest outfit, like he had for the past few days. The two main reasons for this was his own anxiety around Ed, and the fact that the air was very slowly cooling in the slightest. He narrowed his eyes and leaned to his right, sharply turning a corner and alerting some cars near him. He didn't care about them at all.

He hadn't been to school all week, not feeling like it. He'd actually been trying to spend some time with Ed, since the blond seemed okay with him around, though he always felt out of place in the Elric household. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it just didn't seem right to stay around all day. Hohenheim had assured Envy that it was quite fine if he decided to, but Envy stuck with just visiting.

Some of his friends had called him, questioning him about where he and Ed were. Marcus, Kei, and Duo had come over yesterday to try and find out, but got barely anything from him. All they knew was that something had happened, and the two of them wouldn't be in school for a while.

Envy slowed to a stop at the red light, glaring up at it distastefully. Someone in the car in the next lane rolled down their window, and a pair of women in their early-twenties whistled at him. He threw them the middle finger much to their anger, and zoomed off through the red light since there were barely any cars.

It felt good to be able to ride again.

He was unhappy at his new "security situation", but it was supposedly for his own good. A small alarm disguised as a rather lame attempt at a gothic black dragon hung around his neck on a chain, under his shirt of course. If he were to get in trouble with, say, a certain bastard who'd secured himself a full-out alert, then all Envy had to do was snap the dragon's head down and the police would find him in minutes. The alarm told them exactly where he was at all times. Also, he had to call in from school using the principle's phone in the morning and lunch, as well as get a visual affirmative by the pair of cops stationed by his house after school, and before he went to sleep.

He hated it, but it was better than being moved to a safer location and away from Ed, which was exactly what the police had told him would happen should he not follow the security measures. Envy suspected that he was being used as bait in some small way, but he would have fought any order for him to leave for a safer location anyways, so he didn't care.

Hah, even if he was being used as bait, Greed wouldn't be showing his ugly face for weeks.

Envy got as much satisfaction from the thought as he did when he expertly dodged cars in the street and raced ahead of them, frightening most of the drivers.

No, with all the commotion, and beefed up awareness and security, Greed would have to puzzle over how to get around everything. Envy smirked icily. He wouldn't try anything for now, because he wasn't stupid. He wasn't about to get himself caught by a bunch of Central cops. Central wasn't known for it's police force, and Greed knew it. But he wasn't going to be dumb enough to play with fire this hot, however small the flame was.

Envy finally got into the side street he was looking for, and went further along it until heading for a backstreet. Not a minute later, he arrived at Ed's house. There was a white van parked outside of it.

Hohenheim answered the door after the harsh knocking sounded, already knowing who it was.

"Hello Envy."

"What's with the van!"

"Come in, please."

Envy came through the door and looked around, seeing some suitcases around and open. He went into the living room, Hohenheim following, and saw a nerve-wracking sight.

Ed was sitting on the couch, with devices and wires leading from him. He didn't look up, but stayed still and unresponsive to everything around him. He didn't look emotionless however, his face was portraying clear discomfort and pain.

"What is all this?" Envy asked angrily, stalking over. Ed looked up at him, and his face lifted of some of it's unhappiness. He reached a hand out slowly, but didn't try to get up because of all the instruments attached to him.

"He just stabilized..."

".. you're right. And look, his pulse is normal!"

Two people Envy assumed to be doctors or something were chattering, apparently surprised at what the monitors were telling them. Hohenheim walked up to Envy and told him calmly, "Ed has been slowly getting sick, it started about yesterday. I didn't tell you since it only came apparent today. His pulse and temperature reached high levels each a few hours ago, and I called the hospital. I tried calling you, but I recieved no answer."

Envy took a moment to feel horribly guilty, as he had knocked himself out for most of the day with some random night cold medicine so he could escape his haunting thoughts. Hohenheim told him more things that had been happening to Ed, all of which seemed to lead to his illness.

"We believe that his mind is trying to tell his body to shut down for some reason, it's hard to understand. But, just now, everything is returning to normal, or already has. I don't believe it, but his condition just grew from border-line dangerous to almost normal!" A doctor exclaimed.

Ed had not moved through the explanations, his arm still reaching out, and Envy got over the shock and flow of information. He picked his way through the mess of supplies on the floor, and sat down by Ed, who curled up to him. This made the doctor who had explained his surprise earlier turn away with a blush, and try to put some more figures out.

"So, when Envy came in here, Niisan was okay again?" Al asked, relieved that his brother was okay. He'd been killing himself worrying for the last few hours, watching and listening in horror as his brother slowly, but surely, seemed to sink into some illness. The two doctors had just recently announced that Ed seemed to be slipping into a coma or state of shock without sudden cause, or maybe even an attack of some sort. They were only minutes ago babbling over taking him to the hospital.

"Um, I guess, though I don't see how the two could be linked.." One doctor said nervously in response to Al's question. When we observe these two, we'd see that they look more like a pair of stereotypical science nerds than doctors.

"Ed needs Envy right now." Hohenheim voiced. All eyes save Ed's met him.

"Y-you believe that this person helped to stabilize Mr. Edward?" One doctor asked, glancing at the previously noisy machines bleeping out warnings and such that were now calm and quiet, portraying normal results.

"I do. I think that Ed is fighting whatever part of him has given up, and Envy seems to be the trigger, the support that that part of Ed needs to keep fighting."

Through all this, Envy had been watching his motionless chibi with wide eyes, one arm around his shoulders. Ed's arms were wrapped tightly around his middle, and he seemed to just be content with that, perhaps happy that he was being distracted from all the things attached to him, some of which, were needles. Envy looked up for the last part of Hohenheim's declaration, and added his own thoughts in.

"Do you mean to tell me that part of Ed wants to die? And another part wants to live?"

Hohenheim closed his eyes and put his hands in his pockets. "No, I didn't quite say that, but despite my theories and musings, right now all I can say is that you are needed. It is obvious that you need to be here for my son. You must have the responsibility to help him."

Envy's face took on a dangerous sort of calm anger. "I won't just be here out of responsibility, If Ed wants me to be here, then I'll be here."

Hohenheim seemed surprised, then content at the answer. The doctors each seemed a little flustered, but passed it off and called in to the hospital to report their latest findings on Ed's condition.

Some people at the hospital were apparently none-too-happy that Ed wasn't brought in for a 'professional' check up, though a senior doctor and long-time psychologist had put in that he believed Ed may be developing a stress disorder from the trauma of Sunday's event. He informed Hohenheim and the rest of the living room's inhabitants (speaker phone) that in Ed's unstable condition, whatever seems to keep him happy should be kept around at all costs. He explained his reasoning as a hopeful prevention to any dangerous situations that could possibly be sickness creeping up with no detection. Not just sickness of the body either, sickness of the mind.

"So, I seem to help Edo out here, are you telling me I should be staying here at the house with him?" Envy asked, knowing that the special phone was picking up on his voice despite his distance. There was a moment before the response, but it came all the same.

"I presume this is the friend I was being told about? Yes, if what my two colleagues have told me is true, it may be in Edward's best interests if you were to stay with him for the time being. I can't give a professional opinion on this since I have not witnessed the events myself," his tone seemed to convey a certain displeasure at the point, "but that is the best I can say for now."

"I have no problems with this, anything to keep my boy happy. Envy?" Hohenheim asked, locking eyes with the wild-haired teen. He didn't look away, his voice firm.

"You heard me before; I said if he wanted me here, I'd be here."

Hohenheim nodded. He continued to talk with the doctors, but Envy toned them out. Something about the doctor/_psycho_-logist guy wanting to see Ed, and Hoho-something wanting to wait before putting more stress on his son.

Envy played with a part of Ed's free hair (it hadn't been put in a ponytail or braid for days), smiling when this seemed to calm his chibi. Eventually, the doctors ridded him of the stupid things attached to him, and Hoho-something proceeded to talk to him about his temporary move-in.

Hohenheim quickly established with all parties involved that Envy would be staying at the Elric house. The school was alerted for a permission leave, and Envy was going to be receiving his work and school activities through delivery by friends and such. The police switched their watched house from Envy's to Ed's, and besides that, not much else had to be done. The hospital urged Hohenheim to continue reporting in on Ed's condition, to monitor how well or not well he was. Of the few people that were his 'team', some were skeptical that Envy was some sort of calming factor, while the rest agreed and decided the accompaniment was quite suitable. At some point, Envy was compared to the puppy brought in to senior citizen homes that seemed to generally help and humor the inhabitants. He hadn't been too thrilled from the comparison, but he couldn't help but agree in a disgruntled way.

By the end of that very Thursday, Envy had made a trip to his house with Hohenheim, gathering anything he thought he might need, and officially (temporarily) moved into the spare bedroom of the Elric house. He had invited the man in to his home while he got his things, and growled despite everything when the man tried to lighten the mood by commenting on his neatness.

Envy remembered on the way back in the car, somehow getting into a light conversation about he and Ed. Envy had asked something about Hohenheim being alright with their relationship, and the man replying that he was still pondering over the idea, though he was not going to stop Envy and his son from being in prolonged contact should that be the most comforting. Ed may have been hugging Envy for a sense of comfort, but it was still pressing the boundaries of a dubbed regular friendship, so it was impossible to pass it off and not think of it for what it was.

Most of the car ride had been silent after the topic closed, and Envy was glad to be out again when they finally arrived back at the Elric house, gathering his small amount of stuff from the trunk and bringing it inside. Ed didn't greet him that time, though he did look up from the couch where he'd sat.

Unpredictable was a word added to his condition report for the day.

* * *

(Okay. That all took us through Monday, Tuesday, skipped Wednesday for over-view and went to Thursday. Skip again now (past Friday), and this last part will take us to: )

Saturday Morning

Envy turned over on his side, some subconscious part of his mind a little happier as the amount of light burning through his eyelids decreased. He wasn't fully awake yet, but he was still faintly aware that he was rising in a place that wasn't his own room. After a few moments, his mind started to clear of the morning mist, and he remembered everything that had happened the past two days.

Thursday, he'd settled in to the Elric home. Friday, he made himself more familiar with the surroundings, and even helped Al around the house for a bit just as a bit of a bribe to get on his good side. Ed had mostly watched them work, not saying, or doing anything. After a while, he'd left suddenly and holed himself in his room for two hours. At first, they'd passed it off as him wanting some time alone, but Envy was not so sure after a while. Only after ten minutes of quiet convincing by Al and a louder finale by Envy had he come out.

Envy mused in his quickly awakening state. Ed seemed to be very needy of his time alone, he seemed to be in his room more than half the time Envy looked, but he was not as confident that the blond shouldbe left alone for so long. No one really had much of an idea what was going on in his head, and Envy himself had seen how unpredictable he was. Little things mainly, like some unexpected action, or lack of. His eerie silence unnerved Envy too, and he couldn't help but feel a little over-protective.

He tried to have the confidence that Al showed, _"Ed's going to get better."_, and he told himself that he would help as much as he could, but doubt and hurt plagued him. Ed was so far from who he was before; Envy hoped that the doctors' musings were correct in the possibility that the state may be temporary. It wasn't a very confident thought if there happened to be three "maybe" words in that one sentence.

Whatever horizon Envy's train of thought was headed off to happened to be, it derailed and crashed when Envy's eyes opened to see blank ones staring back at him. He jerked and sat up, blinking down at the blond who was sitting on his floor with his hands lying limply on his legs.

"Edo? When did you get in here?" Envy asked, cocking his head and taking in Ed's image. His eyes had dark shadows under them, like he hadn't slept at all.

Ed made no response, and now that he thought about it, the comment seemed kind of harsh. Envy noticed how despite this, not a flash of emotion reflected in the blonde's eyes. Ed.. Where are you now...

The older teen slowly slid out of bed, not looking away, and Ed got up and watched him. Envy reached a hand out to him wordlessly, but Ed made no moves as if to touch him.

"Alright.." Envy murmured, taking his arm back and crossing them. He looked deeply into Ed's eyes, feeling slightly unnerved. Ed just stared back, his expression unwavering. A minute of this and Envy gave up, looking away and asking him if he wanted to 'go eat or something..'.

Ed followed him out the door, and Envy took that as a yes. And they called **him** the puppy..

Making it into the kitchen, Envy noticed that is was only seven o'clock. Wow. He'd just beaten his weekend record.

"'Kay, so what do you want?" Envy turned and put his hands on his hips. He only had a pair of shorts for sake of decency, though he was pretty sure his definition of the word was quite different from the other members of the household. Ah well.

Ed didn't look at him, and kept his eyes glued to the ground somewhere roughly near Envy's feet. Envy suggested he make some french toast, and went ahead and did that when there was still no response.

While Envy went around the kitchen to collect the ingredients, after grating himself to try and remember what they were, he was aware that Ed was watching him the whole time. It was creepy, but Envy didn't want to deprive him of whatever solace he was getting out of it. After a minute or two, he'd found the stuff needed, and prepared the food.

Half-way though the mixing, Ed sat down. Envy heard the motion, but didn't look back. He didn't know it, but Ed was crying, silently. His face was stony as ever, but the two small drops slid down his cheeks like rainwater. By the time he finished mixing, and turned to go get the bread on the table, the wet trails had been dried.

Not too long later, Envy fished the plates of hot pancake-like slices of bread out of the oven and set them on the table. Ed (AN: Dammit, I keep going to write Pride! Ed, dammit, ED!) watched the motion and focused on the swirling tongues of steam fly off the food. Envy sat down and put two of the slices on a plate, and another two on a second plate. He grumbled at forgetting the syrup, and got up to go retrieve it from the fridge.

"Here." Envy said upon returning. He put the syrup near Ed and went to put butter on his own breakfast. Ed stared at the bottle almost comically, but took hold of it gently after a few seconds. He popped the lid open and angled the syrup bottle so that the dark amber liquid inside lazily trailed out. This seemed to hold his attention long enough until Envy cleared his throat to snap him out of his supposed daze.

They ate in silence, Ed seeming to appreciate the first sugary food he'd received in a while, and Envy appreciative that Ed seemed content. Though the situation now may have been much less innocent had Sunday been different, Envy refused to let his mind wander. He sure as hell wasn't going to do anything to the chibi while he was in this state. It would probably be a very long time before Envy would be able to continue their growing relationship, but he would wait.

He would give Ed all the time he needed.

* * *

**Cat:** Whoo, finshed. I'm actually happier with this chapter after rereading it. When it was posted the first time, I really hammered it..  
**Seira:** I think it's sweet! Aww!  
**Kit:** … Cat, you're mean.  
**Cat:** I get that a lot..

Notes on Ed for the Pride!Arch:  
-We don't know what's going on with him truly, we never find out. All the different musings and opinions in the chappie may or may not be right, but over all, this is Ed's way of dealing with the pain. He's locking it away, and dealing with it by himself. Envy discovers this later, but I thought you guys should know it now, so I don't play twenty-questions for next chapter. Beyond that, what's happening in his messed-up head is unknown, and will be the base of Ed's unpredictability.  
-There is angst of course in this arch, but despite everything, Ed's actions and everything about him right now are surprisingly light and even quirky at times. This is because while Ed is coping with his pain inside, the rest of him is acting by it's self and honestly, in some strange way, will be rather amusing. Not to point and laugh at his pain or anything, but we sure can point and laugh at Envy, who's going to get blown away by Ed's new persona. (TEMporary persona.)  
-Note that who I'm writing is NOT Pride!Ed, just a tributed version of him. Pride will show himself in the many other FMA fics I'm planning, which will be started one at a time after this one. I wanna start now though... errr...  
-I want our loud little chibi back.. (cries)

* * *

_In last-minute news:_

- Starting next chappie, I'll be kicking off each chapter with a Pride-related quote, just to keep the story interesting. Not directly related to the sin, but Pride!Ed himself (so, mostly parody quotes). They're funny though, so it may clash... Oh well.  
- I failed to mention that the reason why Envy was allowed to leave the house for non-school-related things, or more specifically, visit Ed's house. He has special permission to see the chibi though he has to call in first and arrange it. He called in both times this chapter, the second happening in the "few minutes" break from the couch to the motorcycle. The visit is supposed to be short, and he managed to get out of being tailed for the trip through sheer stubbornness.

R&R  
Don't flame.. I'm flammable...


	16. The True Meaning of Temperance

**This chapter has been reposted after being edited and cleaned up.**

_**Chapter 16's Pride!Quote of the day:  
**_"No BBI fan should ever be able to keep a straight face at the saying 'Swallow your Pride'."  
-Cat

* * *

Yo! Hey minna-san! ... I can't think of anything to say...

**Kit:** Then move on, no one wants to hear you babble anyways. Besides, your last chapter's total AN was too big.  
**Cat:** True true. Oh! That's right! I was supposed to make the list of stuff I was given over my pause! .. Oh yeah.. And I have to once-over the zoo... plus notes.. gods...

Cat was given since Chapter 13: (Not in list mode for space-conservation) (.. I had to go through **NINE PAGES **of reviews just to get to chapter 13 reviews.. urk..)

Fuhrer's Severed Head (ZOMG WTF HSHIT GET IT AWAY FROM ME!), Tin-foil ball, Envy Plushie, Bag of cookies, Sprinkles, Cake for Kit/Seira/Phoenix (Various signs of gratitude, some more **AUDIBLE** than others), Genetically-altered Envy Clone (Now with Sarcasm!), Pillow filled with clean crow's feathers, Waffles, a spider monkey, ALMIGHTY SLINKY OF DOOM! (In rainbow colors), Rubber chicken, Greed voo-doo doll, Glow-stick, Water-melon flavored sour drops (Ooh! It's watermelon! WAHH! IT'S SOUR! NUU! MY TEETH!), Greed squeaky toy/stress-reliever (.. I think it's broke nowz..), FMA DVDs, CDs, BBI game (wh00t! Dual copies!), Ed and Envy plushies, Envy cookies, Choco-chip with Ed's face (... I dun wanna eat it!), CATNIP(I'm so fucking high off all the catnip I keep getting! ZOMG.), Lots and lots of chocolate, Cookies for you and your muses, Ed, Envy, and Greed plushies, Rockie the Rock-eating Dog (Run Lee! Run! XD), Pocky, Large, rough black egg (possibly from the depths of Hell), Ed, Envy, Alphonse, Greed plushies, Noodle, Shrimp-flavored ramen (... I got that after a few seconds.. I did.. Can I have some Beans and a small fries with that?), Giant doughnut for my troubles (Wait! Why do my troubles get the doughnut! I WANNA THE DOUGHNUT! ... play on words, gotta luv English!), Arakawa cow plushie (I think this was for me..), Valentines and Ed's B0x0rz (Huggles B0x0rz... ... STFU! MINE! (enter rabidness)), Genie in a Bottle (Pop-music... Entering head.. Must.. LISTEN TO MIRAI!), Box of band aids, Dark Green Panther, Edo's Pants (This and the B0x0rz from earlier are very very special to me. They have a very significant point. The point is, if I have his pants and B0x0rz.. What's he wearing? XXDD), 876062056234564305 Cookies, A piece of cotton, Milk, Yuki Eiri's newest novel, 3 Violet lenses (What am I, Hiei?), 4- Homunculus Mark tattoos, KIT KAT, Monkeys, A NEW, UNBROKEN pencil, 10,000 G.B Hard Disk, Video tape of Edward taking a shower (Dies of blood loss), A trip to any chocolate factory, Hordes of sweets and junk food and a shake from Steak N Shake, Strawberry yogurt, Writer-Block-Be-Gone spray, Box of cookies, FMA plushies, Large Man-eating plant (Nothing to ph34r! I'm not a man!), Cupcake for Kit (that looks like Edo), Envy cup cake, Chill pills (OH good, I was just running out!), (Following from Midoriko's Anime Club) "From Kashia: CATNIP! Cookies for your muses, CD's plus a CD player, From Blue: Books about how to write angst, From Rachel and Lakesha: Great mangas of Full Metal Alchemist, From Midoriko: More catnip, cookies, cake, ice roses that look like they have fire trapped inside, a cute white cat and tiger, and a black panther, and other types of wonderful gifts!(Thanks M'sAC!), Envy pillow, Pandas, Stereo, Larcenciel concert's ticket,TONS of chocolates, Pride!Edo and angst!Envy plushies, a cute little kitten, Burn-healing kit for Kit, Three Cookies, Piece of Chocolate Cake (Sorry Livy, I didn't realize I was doing that so often!), Apple (Misery- How am I going to keep on with this fic? Well, you'll have to read and see!), Ed keychain on a chain, Al on a bracelet for Kit and Envy on nothing for Seira (Aww! You guys who give to my muses are so kind! TY! (Seira: SCREECH!) Hey PopTartAddict, it means Post-Script. Kooooolllll…..:3 ).

**Cat**: ...  
**Kit**: This is what happens when you don't list your gifts for two chapters? Shit..  
**Cat**: ...  
**Kit:** .. She's in shock. (sweatdrop)  
**Cat**: I FEEL SO LOVED!  
**Kit**: ... Thank every deity you didn't put these is list format..

Note for readers: (Before Cat spazzes on us..)

**1. **Shoutout to Hope Rising, Review Quote: "Dude, if you take a lot of Nyquil, don't you like, start hallucinating? (Imagining Envy sitting on the counter naked singing Led Zepplin with a toaster in his lap and a fuckload of frozen waffles on the floor"). XXXXXXXXXXDDDDDDDDDDDD  
**2.** Shoutout to the fact that I possibly started a wave of ExE AU High school fics, and another wave of ExE general angst fics (thanks to the two who pointed them out!)  
**3.** Can't do the zoo. AN will be too long.. ..er..

...Meow?

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 16 - The True Meaning of Temperance

* * *

Point.

"No."

Point.

"No."

Point.

"No." Envy was hunched over his cart, eyes flatly glaring at anyone who dared give him or his silent companion a funny look. Ed was pointing at the most random of objects in the small store, as if asking, "Is that on the list?"

Envy was at the point where he wasn't even watching for the pointed finger, he was just saying, "No" at three-and-a-half-second intervals. This had started somewhere around the part when the blond started pointing out pads and liners..

It seemed cruel to say it, but Envy wasn't sure now how sane Ed was. It had been almost a week since his move in, now it was Monday.

For the first few days, Ed was in his room often, and always looked like he wanted to be there when he wasn't. He frequently embraced or held Envy's hand, but usually left after a minute. He ate in his room and god-forbid if he went outside. Later on though, by about late-week-early-weekend, he seemed more comfortable about not being in his room. And by that, we mean he stays out for more than ten minutes at a time.

Envy had been requested by Hohenheim to come with him to the large store about ten minutes drive from the house since he was going to bulk up the food and supplies amount in the house. The reason for this was, Hohenheim was being pressured by his colleagues to the point where he really _was_ going to be fired. Since Ed seemed to be handling his situation, maybe not well, but handling all the same, he decided it was best for everyone if he went back to work before he was out of a job. That's no way to support a family, you know, jobless. Nope.

So, he dragged Envy along to help him with the sheer amount of items that would be gathered for his absence. No late-night shopping trips would be required after this, no no.

Mind you, he was not happy about leaving three teenage boys alone for who-knows-how-long when one-possibly-two were being targeted by a psycho. NOT. HAPPY.

The only thing that kept his hair in was the fact that the under-cover car containing two policemen were still watching the house, and that the hourly call-ins would be investigated immediately should they be so much as one second late. That and.. Hohenheim happened to have some pretty mean secret-security measures set up on the house...

Anyways, he had indeed gotten the wild teenager to help him, and Ed had seemed eager to tag along. By eager, we mean by no indication of eagerness other than not being in his room.

He'd given a list of items to Envy and Ed, and he'd taken a second one. They'd split up to cover more ground quicker, and more than once had run into them to see the older teenager's dilemma. Ed seemed to be cheerful, in his new little way..

Hohenheim picked a can of soup off the rack, checking it and placing it in the cart. He took off a few more and moved on. Envy passed the aisle at the other end, "No. ... No." Being heard. He sighed a relieved sigh. At least things seemed to be working out. Having Envy around definitely was for the best.

Envy stuck an arm out and knocked a few bottles of something that matched the name on his list into his cart. He barely registered what it was, and didn't care that he probably knocked three-too-many in as well. Who cares, Hoho-something was ("No.") loaded, if his list was this long, who cares ("No.) about a few more bottles of whatever he'd just ("No.") knocked in?

He glanced at the list for the next item. Carrots. Eww..

He pressed on past the canned foods section, not even seeing Hohenheim, and made it to the fresh produce section. Ed pointed at the carrots, to which he got a "No.", but Envy picked some out despite his decline, popping them in a bag. He hadn't even seen the action, so he had no idea the confusion he had just caused the poor blond.

Another twenty minutes of this, and Envy was finally done. He pushed his cart with just a _little_ more effort than he would have liked, and made it around the front of the store soon enough. He started to pile the items on the conveyer belt-like gizmo which would lead them to the wide-eyed cashier.

Ed (I'm STILL trying to write Pride when I refer to him... WTF!) watched the changing location of items, but didn't help. He was getting a few odd glances from people, but they went unnoticed (or ignored maybe). Envy eventually was given a total for the enormous amount of things, and handed the cashier three hundred dollars. Hoho-something had given him the money to pay for his half, and was allowed to keep whatever was left. That amounted to about 50 bucks roughly. He was not money-sparse, thanks to Aunt-Moneybags, but it was nice anyways.

It was a hassle to get the bags to fit back into the cart, and he even had to resort to draping a bag on either of Ed's arms, to which a blank stare was focused on each. He left the store to go put everything in the awaiting car, blond in tow.

The back seat and foot-area was buried in bags, and Hohenheim wasn't even back yet. Envy sweatdropped at the realization of the doom this would bring. He turned around to see Ed still holding his arms out with a bag on each. Make that two sweatdrops.

Ed's wounds had been healing surprisingly well. The dagger cut near his shoulder had somehow missed a critical mark, and left him able to use his arm not two days later. Albeit, he had a brace and cast on for a few days after Envy moved in, since the wound had started opening randomly. It was fine now however, and there was a small mark showing the wound.

What weren't so inconspicuous were the red slashes.

That bastard seemed to have way too much fun with his knife, and Ed had horrible red marks all down his arms, back, chest, and even some on his legs and thighs to show it. They were still healing, and didn't seem like scars, though Envy suspected some would indeed be permanent. (AN: No, they aren't pretty-swirly like Pride's, but they're enough to count as a tribute to them.)

In any case, Envy lifted the bags off the out-stretched arms, both of which were bandaged. Ed had picked out a black sleeveless shirt, like one of his more regular outfits, and he was dawning long green pants. His hair was still free and unbraided. Envy himself had his hair tied back, so it was like they'd switched styles. He himself wore a black and red t-shirt (with the dragon-police alarm underneath), and knee-high black shorts. He was still making sure to wear less revealing clothes around Ed, he wasn't sure how comfortable the blond would be with it.

Throwing the bags in with the rest (literally, oops.. hope those weren't the eggs..), he leaned against the car and waited for Hoho-something. His eyes eventually floated to a certain silent teen who was staring at him.

Over a week knowing that stare and yet, he hadn't gotten used to it. Not one bit. Those blank yet piercing gold eyes seemed to create an unbreakable tunnel that Envy couldn't help but stare into until-

"Someone want to help me? There's a lot of bags!"

Envy snapped out of his daze as the tall dirty-blond-haired man waved cheerfully at him to catch his attention. Grumbling, he set to the task of unloading the second cart and further weighing down the car. After he was finished, he rolled the two carts back to the store (Ed in tow) and then made his way back to the car (Ed still in tow).

Envy took a look at the car and realized the rather funny situation he'd gotten himself into. While Hohenheim sat in the front, ready to drive, the entire back seat and foot-area was loaded with store-items. The trunk was already filled to bursting with yet more store-stuff, leaving the only place left to sit in the front. When both he and Ed were not yet in the car.

Hohenheim seemed to realize the problem, and got out, scratching his head and peering in the back. No way they could move enough stuff over. Shoot.

"Um, hmm. Envy, let's try and see if he will sit on your lap." This gained a bit of a shocked response, but not in a negative way. Envy still didn't know what Hohenheim thought about his and Ed's relationship, but that had to account for _something_, didn't it? Now, if the chibi would be okay with it..

Turning to Ed, he said, "Ne, Edo, There isn't enough room in the back, so would you be okay with sitting on my lap until we get home?" The request was said as politely as he could muster. Damn, he'd used more 'politeness' in the last week than he had in his entire life.

He didn't get a response, so he got in the front and beckoned the blond over. Ed seemed to be confused as to where he was going to sit, but came over anyways to stare at Envy questioningly.

"That's right, now just sit here." Envy motioned, keeping a perfectly calm face and leveling his voice to portray nothing but happy-fluffy-ness. It seemed to work, as Ed seemed to understand the request.

And didn't want to do it.

Envy's shoulders sagged as Ed cocked his head, backing away one step. Envy tried to hold out his hand, and that was latched on to immediately, but Ed didn't come any closer.

"Well, I guess this isn't going to work. Hmm, let's see, we may be able to put some groceries up here too, and make room in the b-" Hohenheim was cut off.

"It's okay." Envy said, and had good reason to. He was bringing Ed closer to the car inch by inch as he slowly brought his hand to himself, the chibi attached. He managed to guide the short blond close enough that his head was right by the door frame. Ed leaned his head against the top of this, staring at Envy with those big blank eyes.

"It's fine. You know I won't hurt you. Come on in." Envy tried again. Nothing. In a rush of his own uncharacteristic calmness, he stuck out his bottom lip in an undeniable pout. (And it is the CUTEST mental image I've ever seen!)

This seemed to intrigue the blond, and he cocked his head. Hohenheim watched the exchange with amusement. He'd seen the pout in the rear-view mirror. My, this Envy could be patient as anything when he wanted to be.

As if deeming the situation safe, Ed lowered his head and slowly entered the car. He sat down on the cushion that was Envy, and stayed motionless. He was almost exactly level with Envy now, one would be given the wrong impression that they were the same height.

"Was that so bad?" Envy said, and Ed turned his head so one wide golden eye half-peered at him. (AN: .. So far.. For each story I have planned with Pride in it, including this one, each and every Pride seems to be completely different.. This one here is like... Chibi!Veggie!Pride!Ed.. ... One of my Envy!Plushies is staring at me.. make it stop..)

Not getting a response, and not expecting one, Envy shifted slightly and reached out to close the door. The noise didn't make Ed jump, or so much as flinch, but he wouldn't stop half-staring at him. It was like Ed was trying to make sure it was Envy he was sitting on at all times.

Hohenheim started up the car, and the radio switched on. Some random song was half-way through it's self but no one paid attention to it. The minute or two after however, caused some reaction.

A few evenly-timed beats struck out, and Envy looked at the radio with a half-smirk. Heh, how ironic. The station was playing Mirai, the song he'd sung at the Talent Show. He waited a moment until a low voice picked up with the words. The voice was much deeper than his own, and sung slower, so the song had a more angsty feel to it, like ironic humor that really didn't fit. He liked his version of the song better.

He would have passed the thought off, when he noticed Ed's reaction to the song. Reaction. A reaction. There was actually a reaction to something.

Ed was staring at the radio, listening hard to the music. His expression was still stoic as ever, but he was so keen to the sound that he was forgetting to stare at Envy. Said teen watched in fascination as Ed's face seemed to change ever so slightly to upset, like there was something he was missing.

He turned a bit and looked at Envy best he could in the position, and waited. Envy stared back at him, looking deep in those bottomless pools of gold. Not getting what he wanted it seemed, Ed reached over with his right arm and pressed his finger to Envy's bottom lip lightly.

"What's up Edo?" He asked, puzzled by the action. Golden brows furrowed ever so slightly, and Ed looked back at the radio, again listening intently to the singer. He looked back at Envy.

Oh. Is that what this was about.

"That's not me. You're remembering the talent show." Gold eyes were his only response. Ed turned away from him. Satisfied maybe?

The blond rested his arms on top of Envy's, one of which was on the arm rest of the door, and the other against the seat of the chair. He seemed content with this, and relaxed. He let his head fall back against Envy's shoulder, and Envy in turn rested his cheek lightly against the golden mane.

The ride was silent, Ed appeared like he was sleeping, though he wasn't, and Envy had his eyes half-shut, enjoying the scent of his chibi. Hohenheim was silent, and didn't glance at the cuddling teens beside him, though it was more out of not wanting to make them uncomfortable than his own discomfort. In actual fact, it didn't bother him at all. He was open-minded, as a scientist should be, and although one may say sexuality has nothing in common with science, he just decided to accept anything that came his way.

* * *

"Yatta, last one. I thought we'd never get all that shit away." Envy stood up and cracked his back, glad to be finished. He'd been required to bring in lots of the groceries and supplies, AND put lots away. Man, these Elrics were really making him worth his keep... (.. It's just groceries Envy you baby..)

"Thanks Envy! Now, what time was it that I had to start dinner.." Al said, turning around his chair to glance at the clock. Hmm, he still had plenty of time.

Al had made every effort to be friendly to Envy, though he was still unsure of him. He would probably never fully forgive him for involving Ed in with that 'Greed' person, but he knew he shouldn't hold everything against him, since there were things that were out of his power. In the end, he was still trying to learn and observe the wild teen.

"Hey Chibi," Envy called, in the living room now. Al rolled his eyes and went to go see what the teen wanted. Envy wasn't calling Ed by the nickname anymore, settling for Edo instead, but in consequence, Al was being called Chibi instead. Al decided to take the 'cute' connotation of the word as opposed to 'short', and left it like that so he wouldn't berate the older teen for being rude and possibly create unnecessary distance between them. It didn't bother him anyways, so why pick an unneeded fight?

(That's so Al.. He wants to be everybody's friend 'cause he sees everyone's good side..)

Al arrived at the living room, and saw Envy fingering down the neatly-organized movies on a shelf. He picked out one with a colorful jacket with "West Rain Talent Show" on it, and grinned.

"What's that for?" Al asked, noting Ed peering at the video. Then again, when he wasn't in his room, he tended to peer at **anything** Al or Envy picked up.

"Mirai was playing on the radio, and I think Edo here remembered it. I wanted to see what he'd do if he was seeing it again." He popped the tape in and waited for it to start. Soon enough, the screen went black and was about to start up the intro sequence that had been added, but Envy skipped through it and right to the end. Finding his spot, he stopped fast forwarding and played it. It had started around one-third in to the song.

Envy moved and looked at Ed, who started listening intently once again. He walked forward and knelt near the screen, watching the moving figure that was Envy. Occasionally, the camera zoomed in, or switched to a closer-set camera person, and Ed seemed satisfied that this person was definitely Envy.

The song ended, and the audience roared applause. "You have a really great voice, Envy. You should really consider singing for a career option."

Envy laughed and looked at the blond boy in the wheelchair. "No thanks, I'll pass." (AN: I have the feeling I just inspired some NVxAL fics..)

Al shrugged good-naturedly and watched as Envy hit the rewind button. He only let go after another familiar figure was on stage. He sat back on his haunches and watched as Ed's blank eyes took in the mirror-image of himself on stage, just beginning his song.

The intro of the song played harmoniously, and mysteriously, and then Ed's smooth voice joined it. Ed seemed to just stare until the second line ended, moving on to the third.

For a heart-beat, rage distorted the placid look and Ed lashed out, rapping his knuckles against the screen where his past-self was standing. The tv shook slightly and a small figurine tumbled off and clacked to the floor without much drama.

Ed got up, looking like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and made his way to the stairs, where he ascended swifter than he had in a while.

"N-Nisan?" Al called, wheeling over to the stairs. He heard a door close softly, and then silence after that. Envy stopped the tape and turned the tv off, walking past Al and going up the stairs as well.

"Envy?"

"I'm just going to check on him."

Along the hallway to the last room on the right (AN: Just now, I sketched out the plan of the whole house. Heh.), and Envy made it to the closed door that was Ed's room. He knocked on it, and waited about a second before trying the handle. Locked.

"Edo, open the door." He growled. Some shuffling was heard, and the door was opened slowly. Ed stood there looking like he had for the past week.

"What got you upset." Envy said lowly, eyes demanding an answer. Ed looked up at him, face expressionless. His lips parted after a moment.

_"Samekitta te no hira wa todokanai."_

Envy blinked. Those were the first words Ed had uttered for more than a week. 'My hands grow cold when I cannot reach you'? What? Wasn't that part of Returnable Memories, the song he'd sung at the talent show?

"You can't reach me? Is that what you're saying? But I'm right here." Envy held out his hand, and Ed took it in his own. He looked up at Envy again, but his eyes held sadness.

"What does that mean, Ed? You can tell me." Envy tried. Ed walked forward, closing the distance between them.

When he was close, Ed slowly pushed Envy back. Back out the door. He let go of the pale hand and ever so calmly, closed the door with barely a sound. Envy stared at the dark color of the barrier between him and his chibi, mouth slightly ajar.

He turned around, almost hurt. He knew not to hold Ed's actions against himself, but that hurt. He turned around, but before he left, muttered to himself.

"Stop shutting me out, Edo. Let me know what's going on inside your head.. I'll help you with your pain."

There was nothing after that, just silence. Envy slowly made his way back to the top of the stairs, and paused only a second as a loud crash emanated from the room behind him. It sounded like Ed had kicked something viciously and sent it smashing against a piece of furniture.

'Let it out... Let it all out, don't bottle it inside..' Envy thought. He informed a stunned Alphonse when he got to the bottom of the stairs, and soon enough, Hohenheim, who'd walked out of his office with mild curiosity as to the noise.

There was certainly a curtain of sorts integrated with Ed's eyes, and they were hiding the storm behind them. Everything out of his head was the cozy little cabin.

And he was locked outside.

* * *

Al watched the shadows stretch across his ceiling like a black cat. He'd been watching them for some time now. They'd started short, but over the hours, had grown long.

He turned over, adverting his eyes from the ceiling. He felt stiff, he hadn't moved for a long time. His neat and tidy room with all it's shadows and night-images greeted his tired eyes. It was like there were slow-moving cats prowling across the floor, too.

It hurt him.

The fact that he wasn't as needed.

It hurt.

Envy was his brother's solace. Envy was what was keeping him calm.

Why? Why was this person so special? Was he not Ed's brother? Had they not known each other all their lives?

Al smiled to himself. A small, sad smile. It was cruel irony. He was envious of Envy. It was true. The fact that Ed sought not much more solace from him than he did any other person, it was a sad fact. It was like he wasn't needed. Sure, Ed hugged him every once in a while, often out of no where, and the only other one he did that to was Envy. But why?

Why wasn't Ed a little more attached to him?

Al sighed. He was being silly. He was Ed's brother, and he was going through a hard time. Ed probably didn't know what to think. 'Besides, he probably needs you as well, though maybe he can't show it.' Yeah. Yeah, that was it. He was needed too. He knew his brother loved him, but with everything that was going on..well..

Al turned over, staring at the ceiling once more.

He watched the shadows once more.

He worried about his brother once more.

Sleep came when the clock struck thirteen.

* * *

Tuesday - Elric House - 2:37pm

Envy was half-asleep while attempting to do his work. He was hunched over something for Marco's class, and trying to make sense of the perfectly understandable Japanese not two feet from his face.

Finally, he stood up with a "Screw it!" and stomped into the kitchen. He made himself a healthy nutritious snack of 'random package of crackers', and made his way to the living room. He sprawled out on the couch, turning on the tv.

He flipped though channels until he found nothing interesting on and decided to watch the 'upcoming shows' channel to prove that there was nothing interesting on. The machine was the only thing making noise, as everyone but him seemed to either be sleeping, or working on something.

.o.

He breathed in deeply, arching and cracking bones in random places. He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep. He opened his eyes to see golden ones staring at him.

"Yo." Envy propped his head on his hand. Ed was sitting cross-legged, just watching him. Envy noticed that his hair was bunched and twisted, with a small band holding the strange shape together. Had he tried to put it into his usual French-braid?

The younger teen turned around, resting his back against the couch. He turned his head and looked at Envy out of the corner of his eye.

"You want me to braid your hair? I'm not good at it, but I'll try." Envy muttered, getting up with some effort and shifting to sit up. He sweatdropped as a series of crunches sounded at the movement, and he pulled the bag of crackers out from under him. Good thing the bag was sealed, he hadn't opened it yet..

He took the small band out and looped it on his wrist, running his fingers through Ed's golden hair. It was longer up close than you thought...

He didn't know it, but Ed's eyes were closed. Regardless, Envy separated the mane into three sections and tried to braid it. A few minutes later and a couple failed attempts, and Ed had a loose, messy version of his usual braid.

Envy sat back, laying his thin body against the soft back of the couch. Ed turned around again, fixing him with that endless gaze. Envy tilted his head to the side slightly, and asked, "So? Is that good enough?"

Seeming to understand the question, Ed reached back and prodded at the new position his hair had been woven into. He seemed happy with the result. Though that was just a hopeful guess on Envy's part, he couldn't know for sure. When Ed put his hand back down and rested it against his thigh, Envy noticed the chibi's appearance.

Black sleeveless, leather pants, braided ponytail... What was this about?

The image of normality was a bit out-matched however, bandages fiercely reminded on-lookers that he held red slash wounds in his flesh, and he was probably reminded the most, not by looks but pain.

Though Envy felt disheartened by the thoughts, Ed was either not thinking about them, hiding it, or using some other means to stay calm-looking. It was impossible to know what was going on inside his head, but at the moment, all that was going on inside _Envy's_ head was the gold eyes not a foot from his own violet ones.

Envy wasn't entirely sure when Ed had gotten up close, he must have zoned out in the locked gaze, but fact was that Ed had gotten up on his knees and was resting his warm arms on Envy's pale legs. His face was close to Envy's, and it was a good thing Envy had already leaned back into the couch cushions of his own will, since if he hadn't, he would have felt as if Ed had pushed him back himself.

"Edo? What's wrong?" Envy asked, puzzled by the sudden closeness. Hadn't it been just yesterday when the chibi hadn't wanted to merely ride on his lap in the car? Why advance on him on the couch? .. He wasn't making any sense.

Ed looked at his shoulder. The low-cut sleeveless revealed a good amount of skin, almost where one would begin to question the chibi's sense of modestly. No where near the point of Envy's usual range, but still, question all the same.

Ed looked back at him, lifting a hand and pressing two fingers to the spot near his neck. Smooth, unmarred, save for the hint of a bandage just peeking from the shoulder part of his shirt.

Envy didn't get it at first, but Ed glanced down at the spot again, lightly rubbing the skin. A last glance back at Envy finally made the older teen realize the silent request.

"Oh you're fucking kidding me..." Envy murmured, wide-eyed. After what happened to him, it was a bloody fricken MIRACLE that he hadn't shied away from people, much less seemed to need physical contact with them. It was like the frequent embraces were some kind of weird guiding light, but if so, _this_ took it kinda far.

"There is no way I'm going to give you a mark. No Way. How do you even want one after what happened?" Envy murmured, astonished. Wide eyes gave no answer. But Envy's apparent rejection of his request seemed to trigger something.

Sadness, that was definitely weighing his face down. There was an unmistakable streak of some deep hurt there. Ed moved back, replacing his right arm to it's former place on Envy's leg. His eyes traveled downwards until they locked on his curled digits.

Hand found hair as Envy scratched at his scalp in frustration. He was supposed to be around for comfort, yet, despite how much he wanted to, Ed's request was strange considering his condition. Did the boy really need sexual comfort after sexual abuse? It seemed unlikely, Envy wondered if there was something more than that.

Right now however, it was obvious that he was doing the very opposite of helping, and just as Ed lay his head down on his arms, like he was ready to fall asleep right then and there, Envy gave in and said, "Fine, fine. But I'm not taking the hit of any weird questions. _You _better speak up for me when I have eyes of fucking FIRE aimed at me." Envy grumbled. "Right, so come up here then."

Slowly, Ed rose up and slid on the couch. He sat there on his legs, arms crossed over them. He definitely didn't look sad anymore, but just as stony and expressionless as usual. Envy sighed, looking disgruntled and feeling just as awkward. He moved his hand from where he'd buried it in his hair to scratch his scalp again in frustration. He shifted, locking gazes once again. "You're sure?"

Nothing.

"Fine.." He sighed. He leaned forward. Easy task, it wasn't like Ed was a foreboding person to want to mark. He _was_ Envy's boyfriend...

Long thin arms circled the smaller one's shoulders and Envy lowered his face to the offered flesh. Through the smell of gauze and anti-bacterial cream, Envy managed to gather some of his chibi's scent. He opened his mouth and kissed the spot, sucking until the skin darkened. How he wished Greed had never survived the accident, how he wished he could be doing this to his blond with no worries.. no condition.. no anxiety that his blond may be gone..

Warm hands were placed on Envy's shoulders, and he froze. His own hands were sliding up Ed's shirt and his mouth had traveled from the dark spot to his throat. Envy leaned back slowly to see nervous eyes staring back at him. Shoot, he'd lost himself and gone too far..

Ed backed away, and Envy couldn't help but feel guilty. But the guilt morphed into wonder as Ed glanced at the spot and seemed to stare at it endearingly. He smoothed his shirt out and looked back at Envy, as if asking, "How do I look?"

'Sexual comfort my ass... That's not what he had in mind... He's trying to appear like he had before he was raped... He's trying to go back…' The though hit him like a brick. The person sitting in front of him looked almost exactly like Ed had before that fateful Sunday.

He smiled, sadly. "This hurts, Chibi. You look.. almost normal again... But you're so far from it. What's going on inside your head? Is looking normal going to make you better? I hope you know what you're doing, 'cause this hurts me too." He may be acting rather brash to his hurt little partner, but he couldn't help it. That was how he was.

Envy got up from the couch and with one last look at the blond, left. He had to go think, away from Ed for a while. He had to get away from those blank eyes.

* * *

He slid off the pants and they dropped to the floor. His shirt soon followed, though it put up more of a fight because of his hair.

Once stripped of all clothes and accessories (Dragon alarm plus water equals BAD), Envy reached and turned the knobs on in the shower, creating an explosion of sound and cold liquid.

Eventually adjusting the spray to a nice temperature, he walked forward into the small stall.

The water hammered into his back, or would have, had the shield of hair not been there. Soon enough though, the long green locks were trampled and sogged down so that they lost their spiky nature and gathered together. The mane clung to his wiry body and ran along with the trails of water down his pale back and arms. He glanced down at his chest to see two thick gatherings of hair over either shoulder, caressing lazily each side.

He sighed. Raising his slender arms, he pushed the offending bunches away, to join the rest of the weight on his back. The action seemed so feminine. It didn't bother him though; he didn't care how feminine he looked.

He glanced almost sadly around at the close confinements. It wasn't all that long ago when he'd walked in on Ed that one time.

_"Envy! Get out of here! Go away!" _

_"Ne Edo, how big are you? I hear that short people can really be surprising." _

_"Don't call me short!" _

_"Aww, Chibi didn't get enough sleep last night? You sound cranky. You need a big hug!" _

_"EN-VY!"_

He was motionless, just letting the spray hammer him with all it's weak might. His arms hung at his sides, his gaze downwards. Would he ever get to banter with Ed like that again?

He decided to actually get on with his shower, and looked for the soap. It was never in the same place twice...

Up and down, up and down, his actions were subconscious, and good thing, because he was lost to the material world. All he could think about was his little blond. Why had he wanted to look like he had before? Was this really an attempt to try and go back?

"Chibi, it's not going to work like that." He murmured, the voice sounding louder than it really was. It was cancelled out by the showerhead though. "It's not going to work. There's no going back. You can only walk forward now. Heal."

He placed the soap on a ledge (notably, not the same one he'd picked it up from), and grabbed his bottle of shampoo. It was special stuff, and he went through about one each week. And it was NOT a small bottle.

With the cool goo on his head, he busied his fingers with working it into his thick hair, difficult since the strands were all pulled tight due to how much water they were holding.

Envy kept his eyes closed, but the images of That Night flashed before them anyways.

Blood, naked, pain, Greed, police, rage, death, defeat...

'Yes Edo... If you want to heal you have to move on.. You can't erase the past, but you can rise above it. Put it behind you and either accept it, or never think of it again. I've healed, mostly. I don't think I'll ever be exactly the same, and I don't expect you to be, either. But if only.. If only you'll bear with this.. Keep going until you can raise your head high again.. I'll wait.. I will...'

He leaned his head back and stepped into the spray. He'd almost been against the wall just to escape it for a moment. The suds and soap slowly, as if not wanting to part, let go and slid down, disappearing forever in the drain.

"Your first kiss was unwanted, and your first fuck was rape. I wonder who had it worse between the two of us."

* * *

(Back-to-back shower scenes.. I better get chocolate for this..)

"Your arm, Nii-san?"

The requested appendage was raised slowly. Al gently held it up and rubbed a warm, damp cloth over it. Careful, careful.

Because of his injuries, Ed couldn't shower, and it wasn't recommended either because of his 'unstable condition'. The daily sponge baths slash bandage changing sessions were almost always conducted by Al, or when he couldn't, their father.

Though he'd seen them multiple times, he couldn't get used to them. He wouldn't. The long, deep, painfully red cuts riddled Ed's arms and chest, and many other parts of his body. Al knew that the items used in his bath must have hurt, no matter how gentle he was, but Ed never complained, or so much as flinched. At least most of the bruises had healed...

Al gently guided the cloth between cuts, each stitched neatly. He didn't remember the number of stitches the doctor had said was needed, but in was just under two thousand. (There are a lot more cuts than I let on from chapter 14's "scene". There are pauses in description, so it's not random, I assure.)

He finished with his brother's arm, and wheeled closer to move on to his back. His brother made no noise, no movement.

The younger blonde dipped the cloth into the large bowl of warm water, wringing it out soon after. He sat back up and applied it to his brother's skin.

There were cuts there too, around the shoulders, down his sides, and four particularly harsh ones all roughly aligned with one another. There was also the hole, near his right shoulder, where he'd been jabbed right through with the weapon used.

Al was crying, silently, softly, and he knew it. He had every time he did this for his brother. And just like every time, he would finish Ed's back, and move on to his equally abused chest, where Ed would see his teary face and stare blankly at him. No consolation, no sadness. No pain.

"Where is your pain, Nii-san? Where are you hiding it?" Al murmured, his words choked. He dipped the cloth back in the water and pressed it against Ed's breastbone, where he usually started. Ed said nothing, but Al hadn't expected an answer.

The body he washed was still strong, still so ready for an active life. Al could still feel Ed's strength. For his own sake, and everyone else's, he had to get better. And he would.

"I know you can do it, Nii-san.."

* * *

Ed walked in to his room. Al waved at him in a 'goodbye' type gesture, as he closed the door. There were no words of thanks from him, nothing signaling gratitude. He turned and sat on his bed.

He was wrapped up in bandages and gauze again, wearing nothing but his towel. That was soon removed, and he slid under the covers of his bed.

Staring up at the ceiling, he shifted until in a comfortable position. His arms were out in ways so that it caused the least amount of discomfort.

He looked down at the mark (which, by the way, Al had eventually noticed and planned on talking to the perpetrator about), and blinked at it. He looked at the gauze near it, as close to the mark as it could get without covering it (Ed had not let Al cover the bruise), and blinked at it too.

He lay back again, staring at the ceiling. It was hard to notice, but he was smiling. A small, sad smile.

* * *

"Do you.. Think he would want to?"

"I have no idea. It made me feel better back when I was still coping."

Al took an apprehensive sip of his tea. Thanks to the police involvement, and the relationship to his brother along with other factors, Envy's history with Greed had been relayed to Al and Hohenheim. It _was_ directly related.

Even so, whenever it was brought up, Al seemed to be more affected then even Envy was. He flinched when Envy had said those last words.

"Well, if you say so... We could try running it by him, if it's okay." Al said, directing the last part to his father. The three were sitting around the living room, two enjoying vanilla tea, one enjoying root beer.

Hohenheim nodded sagely. "I don't see the harm; it would be a nice break. Though it would have to be tomorrow or a week-long wait until the next chance I get to come back, since I leave tomorrow. I wouldn't want it to be just the three of you. For safety of course and," He winked, "I wouldn't mind the time away from work either."

"Alright. It's getting late now, so, let's ask him tomorrow. If this makes him happy, I'll feel much better." Al sighed, smiling hopefully at the thought of cheering up his brother.

Envy had notified them that Ed was trying to bring himself back before the attack (and it saved his ass since the whole thing had been brought up by Al about Ed's 'present'), and that it would only set his healing process in reverse. He knew from experience. He had suggested that they take Ed out somewhere, to get away from everything and just enjoy themselves for a while. Amusement park had been ruled out, since it was too crowded, movies didn't seem like a good idea, and other such places were discarded. Eventually, Envy suggested a beach, somewhere where it wasn't overly crowded, and where it was nice and peaceful.

The idea had been pondered on intently. It was already November, but the odd weather that year had proven consistent and though last week had gotten colder, had warmed right back up again. Tomorrow was looking to be another mostly-warm day, great for the beach. (Do note that Japanese weather in November is already mild and pleasant. So by "odd weather", we're talking really nice beach weather.)

The three eventually finalized the idea. The watchers and rest of the police would be informed, and they would go at some point when the least amount of people was around. Al was to take the day off school, and some well-needed R&R would commence, and hopefully relieve them all of some stress.

Most importantly, Ed.

* * *

**Cat:** Yay!  
**Kit:** Hmm. Seems kinda random.  
**Cat:** I have five more Pride!Arch chapters to kill, and this is a perfect way to get through one. Works with the line, anyhow..  
**Seira:** I'm noticing we never get insight with Ed. Do we ever get to hear what he's thinking about?  
**Cat:** Nope. It's my 'Pride!Style", not in ANY of my stories with Pride in it, will we ever get to hear what he's thinking. We'll never get so much as a 2nd POV from him.  
**Seira:** ... Why?  
**Cat:** Don't question, just love!

So, love my Chibi!Veggie!Pride!Edo, hate the dubbed FMA ("Envy does not know what his/her original form is-", -Some Eng FMA site, also claiming Envy as genderless. That quote's gonna cause problems for eppie 50, that's for sure..), look forward to chappie 17, and enjoy this small skit I came up with a while ago!

Ed: "Roy."  
Roy: "What is it, Fullmetal?"  
Ed: "After the series, movie, manga, and possibly through fanfiction and fanart, I have realized that you are good for only one thing."  
Roy: (Raises eyebrows) And, what would that be?  
Ed: (Holds up marshmallow)  
-Cat (who personally likes her roasted MMs black and charred)

(I hate Roy now. I'm holding a grudge against Al now too. I lent the FMA series (CD) to two people at my school, and one picked Roy/Ed, the other, Al/Ed. They both know damn well I obsess over Envy/Ed. Damn them. BTW, T-chan (Roy/Ed up there), did this yesterday, and I thought you all might like to hear about it:)

T-chan: (In Media class, she's sitting beside me. She reads Sin High, was on CH14 at the time) Hey Cat?  
Cat: (Turns) Yeah? What's up?  
T-chan: (Punches Cat in the arm. PAINFULLY) THAT'S for what you did to Ed!  
Cat: (Holding arm) OW! (Class glances all weird-like)  
T-chan: (Angsting)  
Cat: (Shocked and screeching)

Bai Bai!  
Wh00t! R&R!

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 17 - Charity of the Waves

See you there!

* * *

A Toast to Cat: The Newbie Writer who Poses as a Writer Who Knows What She's Doing!

(This chapter powered by CreamEggs**(disclaim)**, my rabbit BunBun**(claim)**, and the Reviewers**(…?)**)


	17. Charity of the Waves

**The ANs of this chapter were cleaned up and this chapter then reposted.**

* * *

**Chapter 17's Pride!Quote of the Day:  
**"Pride is all very well, but a sausage is a sausage."  
-Gaspode

* * *

Yo Minna-san!

**Kit**: Better move on, it says here you have a lot to cover..  
**Seira**" (reading) "choo got lotz 2 cover yo" ... Cat, do you really write notes to yourself like this?  
**Cat**: ... No.. No I don't... (shifty eyes)

**Cat Got:  
**Dr. Pepper, Blue Sharpie, Non-alcoholic eggnog, Ticket to Disney/Hershey Park, Chii, Magic Box-Thing, a dead bird (0.o...), Multi-colored ribbon, Animal Crackers, Life-time supply of gummi worms/bears, Mountain of chocolate, Ed/Envy keychain, Almighty Muffins of D00M (98 percent fat-free!), Double Oreo (Bikky... XD), Random cookies and plushies, Long purple wire, cakes with pictures of Envy and Ed both together and separate, Hundreds of pictures of Ed and Envy in various states of undress, cookies, large piece of cardboard, caffeine pills, life size marionettes of Ed and Envy, new toothbrush, Chocolate, full video collection of FMA, assorted flavors of hard candy, rusty wrench, pictures of Roy to either burn or rip apart or stab many times, dressable Plushies of Ed and Envy, shiny silver rock, large mindless creature, a fifty pack of pocky and a box of muse cookies(for the muses!), Pride!Plushie, Half-eaten bag of fish sweets, Box of Naruto-nerds, 5-kilo chocolate bar, Ed and Envy plushie, BIG shiny glittery award ribbon, Roy's gloves, picture of Roy cowering in the corner (I will frame this now..), Ed's jacket and shirt (So now I have his shorts, pants, jacket, shirt... hmmm... (molests)), crystal charm necklace with an ice alchemy circle on it, roses, The Art of Full Metal Alchemist, lots of drawings of Ed, soda and other drinks with caffeine in it, many pictures of Ed with his shirt off!

Notes/Replies:  
Rima: Ahha, I said nothing about 50 different people, but I **DID** limit one per review. Sorry, I have to count it as one! (BTW, you're review was so energetic I had to actually get up and walk my dog after reading it..) XXXDDD  
riversprite77: For one, Ed is taking the rape harder than Envy did, and I highly doubt Ed's being a "pussy" about it. I am dramatizing the reaction for the sake of the story, but you really can't judge him for how he takes the trauma, that's cruel. Anyways though, the Pride references are all pointed from BlueBird's Illusion, the fanmade FMA game, as I said in earlier chapters. One of the endings is where Ed dies and becomes the new Pride, and that's where I get all the references from, Pride!Ed is being tributed in this fic, for the sake of "I wanna."  
**1. **For anyone who cares, I messed up my timeline earlier on. Chapter 8 and chapter 9 both take place on the same supposed Tuesday. I refer to this as the "Doppleganger Tuesday Problem". And hell if I ever make an effort to fix it. :3 (I love my "Timeline" notepad.. I record every major time-shift in it.. It is **soooo** useful..)

**And now, for the waited counting/inventory of Cat'z Zoo:  
**Bob the man-eating hamster (13)  
Llamas (13)  
A bird (yeah, that one I was chewing on..) (12)  
Snappy the Goldfish (12)  
-(All ch16 ones were recorded from 16, but most are actually from 13 and 14 too)  
Genetically-altered Envy Clone (16) (I'm counting him 'cause I stuck him in a monkey suit. It counts!)  
A spider monkey (16) (... And I stuck him in with this one..)  
Rubber chicken (16) (... It counts dammit!)  
Rockie the Rock-eating Dog (16) (He ate my pet rock from an earlier chapter, that's why I didn't include it..)  
Rough black egg (16)  
Dark Green Panther (16) (Siccing this one on the Pink Panther.. OMG! NO! BAD PANTHER! BAD HORNEY PANTHER!)  
Monkeys (16) (Envy is getting dog-piled here.. Monkey-piled.. STFU! **FLING POO**!)  
White cat (16)  
Tiger (16)  
Black panther (16) (I'm scarred for life at the giant ball of green/pink/black I am currently witnessing..)  
Kitten (16)  
Dead bird (17)  
Mindless creature (17) (Quickly eats my dead bird somehow before one of the cats got it. Eyes the half-chewed one next.)

(Cat is laughing as Kit gets locked in the cage with the panther-orgy, Seira is pointing and laughing at Monkey-covered Envy-clone, Phoenix shakes his head and walks away, quitting the muse-position on the spot, and Kage.. I guess she quit too. Aww. Hey.. I switched from narrator to author-pov in the same bracketed comment... hmm..)  
(Oh btw, the spin-off Zoo one-shot is **so** going to be written. So.)

This was the most fun I've ever had writing an AN. Just thought I'd say that. Chu!

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 17 - Charity of the Waves

* * *

Thursday  
..0..0..0..

Knock knock knock.

"Envy?"

Knock.. knock... tentative knock... tap...

"I.. guess you're.. not .. awake?"

_**KERSLAM!**_

"HOLY FUCK!" Envy roared, shooting up in his bed and wrenching his head to the side to gaze in horror at the source of the explosive noise. There he saw Duo clapping his hands, as if ridding them of dust, and a shocked Al off to the side.

"Outta bed and let's get moving! You're wasting the light you ass!" He said jokingly, and then ran off to where ever it was he was running off to.

Envy put a palm to his head and glanced at the clock in the guest bedroom he was staying in. 12:46pm..

Shaking out of his daze, he looked up to see Al still there, looking slightly apprehensive, and the question rolled off his tongue before he knew it.

"Wait, why the hell is Duo here?"

Al grinned slightly at him and replied that sometime that morning three of Envy's friends had come along like usual before school to pass him his work assigned the day before (about as efficient as you're gonna get for teens...). They had found out about the beach trip, and immediately wanted to tag along. Hohenheim seemed fine with the idea, though he playfully chided them for missing school.

The three didn't know what had happened to Ed, but they had been told that there was a 'situation' almost a week before. They didn't press the matter (or at least, press harder than Envy could withstand), though they were curious (but thoughtful of Ed's current condition). Ever since Envy and Ed had been absent, news of Envy's new location had granted a school-wide rumor that he had infected Ed with an STD or something and they were on their last days. Marcus was the unfortunate one to tell Envy this, and through the enraged teen's order, it was Marcus' job to expel the cruel gossip.

The three, Marcus, Duo, and Kei, took turns giving Envy his school work, though there were often skipped days out of lack of planning or care. Friends or no, they weren't the most punctual in the world (Kei tried to be, though it wasn't always his job, so the skipped days were never his.)

In any case, it seemed that the three were tagging along 'to cheer Ed up', even though they didn't know what happened. The condition he was in and the behavior he showed didn't seem to bother the three, and neither did being left in the dark apparently. Envy was really surprised at the fact that Hohenheim was being so carefree with his son, but then again, it was he who said that Ed should be put into more normal environments, right?

Sigh. Whatever. At least he'd get to catch up with his friends, he hadn't done so in a long time it seemed. With his 'house-arrest' as he called it grudgingly, he couldn't go anywhere, and the other guys hadn't seen it in their interest to hang out at the chibi's house.

Envy dragging himself out of the bed and shooed Al off with a look, grabbing a towel and getting ready to take a shower.

* * *

(Yup, I got my OCs in this chappie. To the one who said not to mention that I don't know Duo, well sorry, I don't know Duo and any OOCness is justified seeing as he is an OC as far as I'm concerned. Also, to whoever it was that doesn't like Kei.. OH WELL! Here he is and all his mixed-up-unidentifiable accent-ish-ness!)

Envy dragged himself down the stairs after he'd finished getting ready and clothed. He met quite the scene.

Around the living room sat Hohenheim, who was chatting merrily with Kei in German (okay, it's official. He's trilingual with two different English-es. German, Japanese, British-English, and Australian-English. Fear my logic, it **bites**.), Marcus who was talking to Al about the to-be trip, and Duo on the couch who had either of Ed's sleeves in each hand and was making plane noises as he stuck both their arms out like wings.

Envy sweat-dropped. It was like this day had been plucked out of the story of his life up until now, and written like nothing bad had been going on for the last two weeks. Interestingly enough, the author agrees fully.

'Oh well. Forget what's been happening for now and concentrate of relaxing and cheering Ed up. This is probably the best thing for both of us right now..' Envy said to himself, shaking his head. He joined the festive room and helped himself to various abandoned meals that were lying around.

"How long have you guys been here?" Envy asked, parking on the couch beside Duo, who had his back facing him. The cheery teen looked over his shoulder and replied, "Since.. ahh.. mmm... seven-something this morning?"

Envy looked at him flatly, and shifted his gaze past Duo's shoulder over to the blond right in front of the brown-haired teen. Ed looked like he was caught up between confusion of Duo's actions, relief that Envy was there, and general uncalm at all the commotion.

Duo went back to moving their arms in sync, making childish motor-noises. Those wide gold eyes focused back on him, puzzlement written all over his face as he allowed himself to be slowly rocked and angled from side to side, like a child's theory of a plane's movement. (oh the irony…)

Envy sweatdropped. "Duo... What the hell are you doing to the poor kid.."

The teen laughed, making Ed cock his head to the side (AN: I wanna **hug** him!). "Just havin' some fun. I don't know what's up with him, but he doesn't seem to mind. I got that horrible blank look off him at least!"

Envy smirked at the exclamation, though he really didn't feel the mirth. He looked back at Ed, still focused on his 'tormentor'.

Any other thoughts that would have followed this were cancelled, as a small flash lit up and momentarily drew the attention of everyone in the room. The source was quickly located as being Kei's camera. It was the very same one that he'd taken the picture of Envy and Ed asleep together a while ago with, and now, it had been used to capture the scene on the couch.

"Ah em soddi, Ah sought 'at vaz a good piktar s'ere. You vill see eet, yes?" (I am sorry, I thought that was a good picture there. You will see it, yes?) Kei asked, his accent even heavier than usual since he was just seconds ago speaking German.

"..Ah, you and that damn camera.." Envy mumbled, but got up anyways to go check. He didn't get far as Kei tossed the small camera instead, knowing Envy would catch it. When he did, a quick accessing of the stored documents got him to the desired picture.

Perfectly centered, Envy was looking at Ed with an unreadable expression, and Duo was grinning widely beside him with Ed on his other side, sleeves caught in Duo's hands and held out. The scene brought a small smile to his face, a small, sad smile. But it was gone in seconds, as Duo reached out and eagerly accepted the camera next. He laughed at the picture and showed Ed, who looked at it blankly.

The small machine was passed around, and Envy just watched the general hub-bub of the room. It was comforting. It really was, the way everyone was trying to act happy, and as if life was going to keep going on as always, despite hardships.

And it did. The world spun no matter what. He'd found that out long ago, and now, with a glance at Ed, someone else had to discover that.

* * *

"Well! We're almost there! How are you two faring back there? Awake?" Hohenheim said cheerfully, in his deep, fatherly voice. A deep breath and a yawn showed a person in the back waking, and Al giggled from his seat beside his father.

With Hohenheim as the driver, and Al in the passenger's seat (wheelchair folded in the trunk), Envy, Ed, and Kei were in the back. Duo and Marcus were on their respective motorcycles, racing along with the car. Currently, Envy was waking up from Hohenheim's call, and Ed, who was leaning on him in sleep, was too looking around blearily. Kei snapped his book closed and smiled at anyone who bothered to look his way.

At some point before even Envy had woken up at the Elric's, his three friends had gone home and grabbed some beach supplies. Said supplies were added to the collection of beach stuff randomly spread around the car. Most of the stuff Al was going to need was taking up the trunk (beach attachments to make Al's wheelchair just like any commercial beach chair if not _better_, floaters, other attachments, etc), and pretty much everything else was under the feet of those in the back. The car was bigger than it looked from the outside, but that didn't mean the amount of stuff fit well. Envy woke up to his legs being so stiff you could chop one off and he probably wouldn't notice had he not witnessed it.

"How muh-aaaaww-.. much further, ne?" Envy asked, was cut off by his own yawn, and finished. A chuckle was his first reply, then a, "Ten minutes."

Envy half-smirked at this, then glanced at the blond leaning on him. Ed looked up without moving, and met the gaze. The lack of response other than that caused Envy's smirk to falter, but he left it at that and looked out the window. Kei watched the exchange with a small, almost non-existent frown.

Finally, the car halted, and the two loud engines of the motorcycle-entourage halted with it. Some cheering on Duo's part, and a stretch by Marcus. The occupants of the car filed out, also stretching and moving their stiff bodies.

Now, when Hohenheim wanted a beach day, he _really _wanted his beach day. One hour from the Elric house, was Hasauna Beach (still random names, btw), a wide, sunny, well-maintained beach perfect for the day.

"Whoohoo, look at that horizon... Makes me almost wish it was windy, and I could surf!" Marcus said, holding a hand up to shield his eyes. Kei poked fun at him about not having a surfboard, nor knowing **how** to surf, and he deflated somewhat.

Envy watched the antics from his place near the car. He was waiting for the Elrics to be finished with their little project currently unfolding, literally.

Standing by the trunk, Hohenheim took the folded wheelchair out and expanded it. Now, if one had looked at Al's normal wheel chair, they'd notice there were some changes;

Before leaving, much of the frame had been taken off and replaced with a lighter aluminum one instead. The regular seat was replaced with mesh seating slings, and the wheels were absent all together.

Hohenheim sat the immobile chair down on the pavement of the parking lot area, and went back to the trunk. A few seconds later, he pulled out two huge, roundish tires. These were soon attached to the chair, and after some final adjustments, voila! Al's beach-chair was finished! (And due to the adaptability, probably worth thousands.. Don't ya love customized things?)

As the father went to go get his son situated, some others were settling things as well. Marcus and Duo locked their bikes to each other, and would rely on Duo's set motion-alarm. Envy, Kei and Ed watched both spectacles from near the car, not having anything to do themselves.

"All right then, crew, let's have some fun today!" Hohenheim said, dropping a large hand on Al's shoulder for emphasis.

* * *

Due to the time, the beach was mostly deserted. The wide stretch of sand and surf probably had no more than forty or fifty people scattered around it. The location our group of skippers chose was at the furthest right of the location, where the beach stopped and connected to the sheer rock walls. It was pretty much only them in the area, all the other beach inhabitants were farther off to the left, enjoying the more open area. It was nice though, not crowded, calm, quiet-

"You bastard! I'll get you for that!"

Duo laughed his ass off and promptly fell in the water as Kei sharply beamed Marcus in the head with a ball and dropped _him_ into the water. Said above statement threatened, and the tall boy was up and running after the shrieking teen who'd nailed him.

Hohenheim was sitting at one of the tables on the beach, enjoying the heat and thankful shade from the umbrella. His book was neglected for a moment as he surveyed the group of teens, chuckling at the three newcomers' actions.

Ed was pushing Al around in the modified wheelchair (he can't move himself by the way), though there really didn't seem to be any goal in mind, he was just kind of randomly bringing Al to places, then turning back and heading somewhere else. It wasn't an easy job, pushing the chair, it wasn't very extremely light I'll tell you, but he seemed to have fun either way. Al was eagerly talking to him and enjoying the time with his brother.

Envy looked away from the two. He was sitting half-in the water, leaning back on his arms. His dark blue shorts were wet, and he wore nothing else. God-be-dammed if he got a sunburn though, out in the sun like he was, since Hohenheim had insisted that everyone put sunblock on. He wouldn't have done so just by that, but Ed had gotten the message through his head and put it on him anyways. He didn't really seem to know what he was doing however, and Envy ended up with so much of the slimy goo on him you'd think he'd bathed in the stuff.

Sigh. But back to the present..

The tips of his hair were wet, drying somewhat between the short intervals of small waves. It was a relaxing feeling, sunk into the sand just a bit, the cool water on his submerged legs contrasting to the warm feeling of the sand by his hands..

A hollow clang and a splash of water shocked him out of his drifting mind, and a glaring, much wetter Envy peered around angrily for the perpetrator who'd thrown the heavy ball near him (they were using a basketball. Boys, go figure). He spied Duo, pointing and laughing and he got up, grinning maniacally.

"Wrong move, short man..."

A furious chase around the (surprisingly not crowded) beach ensued, along with much hilarity.

"Get back here you little shrimp!" Envy snarled, running in the shallow water with scary ease. Duo was barely ahead, eyes wide and yelling apologies.

When Envy did manage to grab the fleeing Duo, in noticeably deeper water now, the shorter boy flipped around sharply, throwing Envy right in the water, and under it. Duo was grinning, albeit rather nervously, and backed away slowly towards the beach.

A few bubbles popped at the surface near where Envy had disappeared, and the very top of his head was made visible. Eventually, it widened until glaring violet eyes locked on the now very nervous form a few feet away from him. Duo could practically hear the Jaws theme now...

"Oh ho, shit, he's gonna kill you D-man!" Marcus laughed, but watched intently. Envy hadn't risen past his eyes, and seemed quite stead-fast on staying right where he was. Well, one can only hold their breath for so long...

"Dude, are you okay?" Duo tried uncertainly, but backed away further as killer glares were shot at him. Bubbles popped near Envy's eyes, signaling the impending end of his breath.

Back with Al and Ed, the younger one in the wheelchair squinted and held a hand over his eyes, trying to see what the commotion was about. All he could make out was the three teens from Ed's school coming closer to Envy, who apparently was only just visible from the water's surface. He tried to hear what was being said, but the others were to far away to be heard properly.

"Ne, Niisan, can we go closer to the water? I'd like to see what's happening down there." He asked politely, smiling at the one behind him. Ed cocked his head for a second, but glanced at the gathering of teens. The chair moved forward, and they were off towards the beach line.

The sound of the large hollow wheel grinding against the sand was ignored when the conversation of the four teens further out in the water became audible. Al smiled at the scene, and Ed watched blankly as Envy was about to encounter his own personal doom.

-0-

"Go away!" Envy screeched, and dived under the water. By now, the others had figured that the wild teen was trying to hide something, and it was quickly deduced to be his hair.

"Kei, go that way, I'll cut him off over here!" Marcus laughed, and ran right (well, as well as you can in water waist-high..). Kei followed the command and Duo stayed put, blocking any attempt Envy might make to get to shallower water.

The targeted teen resurfaced somewhere near Marcus and swore as the bigger teen tried to jump him.

"Fuck!" He went underwater again. Opening his eyes, he caught the warped picture of his friend swimming/walking along the bottom towards him. He spun around and rocketed left. One very noticeable advantage of being as androgynous as he was, is that it makes one a very smooth swimmer, even if he didn't have a shitload of experience. His hair slowed him down though, so he swam at just over a regular speed.

He broke the surface again, gasping for breath, but didn't get to relax as Kei nearly fell on him in attempt to catch him. He clumsily scooted away, keeping watch of the others, and made sure not to allow much more than his nose to be exposed to the air.

After about ten minutes of such hilarity, Envy was boxed in with each of the other teens mere meters from him, and each other. By this time, Al was killing-himself-laughing in his seat, and even Hohenheim was watching with interest. Ed watched intently, but remained expressionless.

"You fuckers get the fucking hell away from me, I'll fucking kill you if you fucking get any fucking closer!" Envy snarled venomously, though his 'panic' was easily heard. Identical grins from his three hunters made the situation all the worse.

"Whatcha hiding Eeeennvy? Why don't ya come up and play some ball or something?" Duo taunted. He closed in and made a grab for the mostly-submerged teen. Envy dodged, but Marcus caught him and hoisted him right out of the water by his arm.

"Fuck you!" Envy kicked Marcus in the stomach, and he doubled-over, but was laughing too. It was fun to mess with Envy, you didn't get the opportunity often.

Envy was standing up, arms crossed and NOT HAPPY. His hair hung down heavily, pulled tight by it's own weight and spread all over the place. It clung to his wet body like you wouldn't believe, a think collection sticking to his face.

"Holy shit, you really **do** look like a girl when your hair's wet!" Duo laughed. "Marcus said you do when you guys hit the showers after gym, but man, I never knew this much!"

Envy crossed his arms and glared pathetically at the laughing teen near him. "You talk about how girly my hair looks when wet to people? You like chatting about me, gotta crush or something?" He snarled, though he didn't really look mad, more like bitchy-pouty.

"Shit no, man, I don't swing that way. Just telling Duo 'bout when you beat those guys up the other week. Just kinda came out, ya know? And it's true.. But why all the shyness? Since when the fuck do _you_ get all weird about your hair?" He laughed. He already knew Envy was a self-conscious person, though in a very different style than most people. His hair, as far as he knew, had never been an issue in that respect. Sure, Envy wouldn't cut it for all the money in the world, but he'd showered in front of all the guys at school, and naked on top of that, and never cared in the least, so why now?

"I don't get _weird _about my hair, I just don't want **them** to see it like this!" Envy growled, pointing in the rough direction of the Elrics.

Kei scratched his head and asked, "But vay sem? (But why them?) Vhy eet not matter four oddars? (Why it not matter for others?)"

Envy glared, but answered grudgingly. "I don't give a shit about what other people think, but unless you guys haven't noticed, I kinda want to keep a good impression with Ed's family."

"Aww, you're weird. This is a beach, you should have known you'd get wet. Besides, who cares? They won't think bad of you just cause you're all girly, an' stuff." Duo found himself wrestling underwater in seconds.

And thus, the antics of the older teens were rather childish. Soon enough though, two more wanted to join them.

-0-

"Kay, so, you're cool, right, you don't need help or anything?" Marcus asked hesitantly, eyeing the contraption Al wore.

In another example of their father's genius, Al was chest-deep in water with the neatest little thing keeping him up. It was a flotation belt around his chest, but with three aluminum rods sticking out in different directions with air-filled balls on the ends. Simple, and it kept him above water with a perfect way to balance. The contraption was a little stiff, and had been perfected to allow no way to flip or break. Al was holding on to Marcus' arm for a way to move, and for security (it was only his second time wearing it).

Ed was up to his waist, and was not allowed to go in further. The cuts on his legs had been much milder than the rest, and had mostly healed, stitches gone. The rest of him however was not ready to be wet, and water-resistant wraps were around his middle and arms to prevent accidental splashes or waves from hitting him. He was limited much in his freedom of beachplay, but it was better than nothing. He didn't seem to mind at least, but then again, who knows what he minded right now.

In any case, Marcus/Al, Duo, and Kei amused themselves with a warped version of some sort of beachball game, and Envy went off with Ed, slowly walking in the waist-deep water. Hohenheim went back to his book, and all was pretty nice for a good while.

* * *

Two hours later find us at a very different scene.

After exhausting the water part of the beach trip, as well as every water game they could manage, the four teens had left and changed activities. Currently, Duo and Al had gotten into a childish sand-castle war, both creating bigger and better 'fortresses' with (stick and shell) 'armies' and such. It was endearing to watch, though an unrelated person may question their age or mentality when seeing them.

Kei and Marcus had gone off and joined some other guys in beach volleyball, and a squadron of girls happened to be there so their attention had been kept rather easily. Hohenheim was fast asleep, looking much more peaceful than he had in a long time, and off on the grass under a tree, Envy and Ed were also asleep.

Let's focus on them, shall we?

Envy wasn't completely asleep, he was conscious enough to feel the cool grass against his skin. He felt the contrasting warmth of something different against his side though, and some part of his mind already knew this to be Ed, curled up beside him.

Envy opened his eyes, freeing himself from the clutches of unconsciousness. He glanced down at the smaller teen, and slowly wrapped an arm around him, drawing him closer. He then closed his eyes and fell back to sleep, a small smile on his face.

* * *

When the air started to cool down, around 5 o'clock, Hohenheim decided to call the trip over. After gathering all the stuff, including Al's special equipment, the slow trip back to the waiting car ensued, and in no time, they were packed up.

"Whoo, what a rush... This was awesome, thanks for letting us come along, Mr. E!" Marcus cheered, looking tired after the extensive game. Kei looked too beat to say anything, and he just climbed in the car happily. Duo laughed at his misfortune.

"I was more than happy to have you three. Alas, we must return home." He said, sounding a little sorry to have to leave. He got in the car and waved goodbye to the two on motorcycles. Envy saluted sarcastically and got in as well, sweatdropping when Ed copied the gesture and joined him.

"Are we suited up?" Hohenheim asked happily, putting on his seatbelt and preparing to back up. Getting a mix of replies, ("Yup!" "Ja." "Mmm.." "" (Pinnacle of Enthusiasm, ne?)) he chuckled and backed past the two cyclists, and turned out of the parking lot. Many other people were doing so as well; many people seemed to want to leave at the same time.

In any case, it wasn't long until the car was racing along the highway, headed back for home, with two motorcycles flanking it. The ride back wasn't very interesting, so we'll leave our band of characters for now.

* * *

It wasn't even an hour after arriving home that Hohenheim had to pack up the car again. This was his last day home, and now he had to race off to work, before he was fired. His three "sons", two permanent, and one temporary, (oh the irony..) saw him off, big enthusiastic waves from the youngest.

They watched the car back out of the driveway, honk, and leave. Al was calling out goodbyes and waving, Envy had his arms crossed, watching with some amusement. Ed watched as well, but it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

"Well, let's go back in, the air's getting cooler." Envy drawled, bored already. He was a little annoyed at the weird weather, why was it so warm all day and so much cooler at night? No fair.

"Alright." Al said, though he sounded caught between sad at his father's latest departure, and his normal cheeriness. He knew himself though that he'd be back to normal soon enough though.

Back inside, Envy sprawled on the couch, thinking of nothing better to do than watch tv. He wasn't hungry, Hohenheim had ordered food to the house before he left, and they'd eaten. So now, he just decided to laze around for the last few hours of the day, then go to sleep.

Ed sat down at the other end of the couch, watching Envy. He seemed to be following people, or copying them a lot today...

"I'm going to turn in early today, see you both in the morning!" Al said, though he sounded just a little tired. A small wave without looking from Envy was all he got, and he half-smiled.

A while later, around ten o'clock, Envy felt peckish despite the meal a few hours ago, and got up to make a snack. Ed followed him, and got a snack as well for his efforts. With a satisfied tummy, and a nice big couch to stretch out on (Ed was sitting on the other end, and over Envy's legs as well), he soon fell asleep. Seems like falling asleep on this couch is taboo however, as Envy is soon to find out...

-0-

Hot lips on his, pause...

Hands trailing down his arms.. pause...

One knee in between his legs, oh so close, so close.. pause...

A women moans.. from somewhere.. where.. who.. was that?

Another moan, closer.. not a woman... kissing again.. pause..

Envy breathed in the intoxicating scent of.. something. Someone. Someone familiar.. Who..? Who was that...

An unsteady hand trailed down the inside of his thigh...

Back up..

Down...

Up...

Up..

Yes..

"There..." He purred. It felt so good... Something was stroking him.. but... no.. stupid clothes.. get rid of them.. he couldn't _feel..._

Envy reached up and grasped whatever was on him, some heavy thing... Something warm.. Someone warm..

More stroking, he arched into the feeling.. so... nice... pause..

Envy opened his eyes slightly, but all he got was a blurry silhouette. He opened them wider, and was met with half-lidded gold ones. They disappeared, and the feeling.. there... stopped.

Hair.. golden hair... a woman moaning.. where.. is she?..

Those eyes returned, looking down at him.. but.. something was wrong..

Oh.. that feeling.. it doesn't matter... that's too nice to care about anything.. anything else...

Envy wrapped his arms around whoever was on top of him, kissing them back. That body on his, it was so nice, but.. it would be so much nicer the other way around...

Switch with me... I'll show you how it's done.. Edo..

Edo..

Envy shot up, smacking his head against Ed's, and throwing him off accidentally. Hand to the afflicted area, he breathed harshly, eyes wide at the apparently equally-surprised Ed.

"What the hell? Edo? What?" He gasped. A feminine moan caught his attention, and he adverted his eyes to the tv screen, where one of those "Sex Tips"-related shows were playing. Some guy was pleasuring a very b-grade porno-like girl, and it was very similar to what Ed was doing to him...

"You! Are way too impressionable right now! You can't watch this!" He all but yelled, quickly locating the remote and switching the tv off. The vcr showed 12:23am in it's little green light-numbers, and he groaned.

Leaning back on his arms, he looked right at Ed. The blond was sitting up, hands in his lap, watching him with his all-too-usual blank stare. Envy snorted. Leaning forward, he knelt in front of Ed and looked deep into his eyes.

"Did you have **any** idea what you were doing?" He said lowly, borderline murmuring. The younger teen cocked his head to the side. He reached up slowly, and put a finger to Envy's lower lip. Pushing it a bit, he then dropped his hand down limply, back into his lap. He cocked his head again.

Envy narrowed his eyes in a comically flat stare. "You didn't.. did you..." No Response.

Envy sat back, harshly scratching his scalp in frustration. What a bother.. He was never going to let this kid so much as **look** at the television until he was better.

Ed reached out and put a hand on Envy's thigh, but then looked confused at his own action, and drew it back, staring at Envy again.

"... I have no idea what to make of you.."

"..help..."

The sound was low, barely inaudible, but it may as well been screamed for all it sounded to Envy. He jolted forward, clamping a hand on each of Ed's shoulders.

"What? What was that? Help? Help what? Edo, please, what do you mean!" He said quickly, desperately. Ed looked at him, almost questioningly. But then, for a second, the blank look was broken, something was in those eyes for a mere second as he said;

"..help.. me.. E.."

And it was gone. Envy stared open-mouthed at Ed, who just gazed back at him, quiet and blank as ever. Envy backed up just slightly, looking almost anguished. Ed needed his help.. but.. How was he supposed to? What could he do?

Ed squinted, and then closed his eyes tightly. He looked away, and opened his eyes again, staring out the window to the dark streets. He glanced back at Envy, and got up, leaving the older teen to his own painful thoughts. Envy listened intently to every step up the stairs, every soft trod on the second floor until he couldn't hear them anymore.

"You are in there... and you need me..." He whispered.

* * *

**Cat**: ...  
**Kit**: This was.. a very odd chapter...  
**Cat**: ..No kidding..  
**Seira: **I thought this was supposed to be the Happy Chapter!  
**Cat:** It **was** the Happy Chapter.. Then.. The writer's block I had for the entire beach scene finally rolled over and killed my plans.. and.. That last scene appeared one chapter too early..  
**Kit:** ... Fascinating...

Well, yeah. That was my very confused chapter. It was supposed to be pure happiness filler cotton candy LUFF crap. But it ended up taking an angsty nose-dive as all my Pride!Arch chapters seem to be doing..

* * *

As the internal fight becomes more and more obvious, Envy becomes disturbed and pained by Ed. When Ed fights to break free of his mental cage, Envy feels helpless, and with the combination of this and his own guilt, Envy starts to push Ed away. Is their pain stronger than their new bond, or will they find the light in each other to overcome their own nightmares?

Find out next time, on

Sin High

Chapter 18 - Losing Faith


	18. Losing Faith

**The ANs of this chapter were cleaned up and this chapter then reposted.**

* * *

**Chapter 18's Pride!Quote of the Day:  
**"No running with scythes!" - (Chibi-Pride!Ed frolicking around with his gigantic scythe is the funniest thing I've thought of all day..)  
-Thief of Time

* * *

**Cat: **The Pride!Arch ends 3 chapters after this one! Wh00t!

**Cat Got:  
**Cookies for the muses, Ed and Envy plushies, A silver bird cage with a humming bird in it, and a shock cage for the monkey/Envy, a military outfit and a hand gun (Yay! I'm Riza!), 7 goldfish and 7 big bags of chocolate, matching pair of socks, photoshopped picture of Envy in an afro (OMG WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!), waffles and toaster, Wrath Plushie with chocolate, "Somehow modified" Ed (seems VERY interested in Envy), panther-condoms for Kit (Kit: Oh, **scowl.**), Uber chocolate chip cookies, starfish of stariness, Envy-flavored Ramen and Ed-flavored Ramen for the muses (Oh NICE. I always wondered what he tasted like... (shiftyshiftyshifty eyes)), a turtle, shiny spork (If I updated fast enough for ya!), over 50 cream eggs (Yes, there is three of us since Ph/Ka left. PS, love your name!), Edo's automail limbs (I have his pants, shorts, shirt, hair tie, limbs, hmm.. All I need now is his socks and jacket and finally.. Him!), Envy's Skort (FUCK yeah!), A white alligator (who apparently eats only flames.. oooohhh...), A dozen red roses with expensive red bow..es (rhymes!), Alchemy for Beginners (turns empty cup on desk into a frog. .. ?), Chemistry Set ("There was this chick named Kitty, but Kitty is no more. What Kitty thought was H20 was H2S04." ...), Catnip! (Yaoi is my anti-drug, but.. Catnip doesn't count! (gets high)), Complete FMA edible plushie set for the muses, Video of Ed and Envy at da beach, Orange Juice, Envy's outfit, Purple dress for Kit (Kit: (BLUSH) - Si' iru: (Walks in from another room) (Whistles)), Sushi for Seira (Seira: ZOMG! TY!), Okonomiyaki for Kage (Cat: Kage! Get in here! You got something! - Kage: I'm not a muse anymore. - Cat: So? Get over here. - Kage: (Appears all mysterious-like.) ... Thanks?).

Notes:  
Hope Rising: Shoutout once again to a quote in your review: "Now I'm anxious to see the next chapter, it's like that preview at the end of a cliffhanger episode that says "Next time, we'll fuck your mind over even MORE. Enjoy your week of dread, asshats:D". Mindfuckery, that's what that is. I BLAME THE FCC!" (XXXDDDD)  
**1. **This chapter is hardcore angst as I've ever written it. Next will lighten up a bit, and the following two after that will get lighter. I guess my (edited out) claim from last chapter isn't perfectly correct then, 'cause the last two are not pure angst, more like, angst with some "sad-Happiness" mixed in if that makes sense. Sort of like a written sad smile.  
**2. **In response to a reviewer's question, Cat has received This Many Plushies through chapters 1-18:  
Neko!Ed Plushie, 6 Ed plushies, 7 Envy plushies, Kumagorou plushie, 2 Greed plushies (mauls), 4 Pride!Ed plushies, Alphonse plushie, Arakawa cow plushie, FMA plushies, Angst!Envy plushie, Dressable Ed/Envy plushies (but it's the UNdressable feature I like..), Ed plushie to Kit, Wrath plushie, Complete FMA edible plushie set for the muses.  
**4. **Just in case anyone noticed, Ed and Envy seem to wear black a lot. I have no fashion sense, and I am not about to go freak-drobe on our FMA boys. I abide by the age-old saying that I just made up, "When in doubt, Black." Ya know, just to be safe.  
**5. **There is now a one-shot spin-off ficlet based on CH15 - A Question of Fortitude. It is by one of Sin High's readers, Indome, go check it out!

**Cat:** Whoot! That AN wasn't so bad.. Excellent. Now, on to the chapter! This is gonna be rough...

* * *

Sin High

Chapter 18 - Losing Faith

* * *

Thursday Night - 11 nights since "That Sunday."  
4:52am - Roughly 5 hours since last chapter  
Elric House - Ed's Room  
-0-0-0-

Act 1 - Breathing Memory

-0-0-0-

"-off.. I wont let you.. do this.."

Ed tossed in his bed, sheets wrapped dangerously tight around him. Already, some bandages were being scraped off. Shadows danced around the room, everything silent other than the occupant.

"get.. get... off me.."

Sweat collected on his brow. Hell, it was all over his body. A shaky hand reached out, grabbing the bed post and squeezing until the knuckles went white. He tried to kick, his plight further made realistic since he couldn't move them properly. The usually nice light sheets were grasping his sweaty legs like a giant, rough hand.

A small yell, muffled by his pillow. His hand left the post and pressed near his shoulder, trying to stop the bloodflow that wasn't there.

Wild struggling, the blankets seemed to constrict him all the more with each move. He couldn't seem to get off his stomach, even though no one else was there, something still seemed to be pinning him down..

"help.. please.. help m.. m.."

A deep hiss.. there was pain in his back.. but no one had caused it.. it was just There..

Tears fell heavily, and his sobs were barely heard through the pillow. He twisted, trying to fend off the imaginary hands pulling at him, they felt so _real.._

Thrust

Thrust

Thrust

With each memory, each perfect recollection of the pain inside him, that Man inside him, he screamed. Horrible, high-pitched screams, but always trampled down, always made silent. His face was pressed so hard into the pillow, it was a wonder he didn't bruise himself.

Thrust

_Stop!_

Thrust

_Stop It!_

Thrust

_Stop It! Please!_

Thrust

_PLEASE!_

Wide open eyes cried freely, his breath ragged and choked. With each rock, the bed creaked, but he had no way to stop it. His hands fumbled around, grabbing things, pushing at the non-existent force above him, raping him, just like it did every night. Every night he went through this. And it was never a dream...

He was awake through it every single time...

But tonight... That last, piercing, soul-shredding scream wouldn't be silenced...

"**_HYEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEENVY HELP ME!"_**

* * *

**__**

The scream seemed to come from within his own head rather than the room beside his, but either way, he shot up so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. Throwing off the covers viciously, he stumbled out of bed. It seems like everyone's covers were the devil's incarnate tonight, as one sheet held fast to his leg. Smashing to the ground painfully, Envy kicked at his sheet until he pulled most of it off the bed in his haste to make it let go.

He flew across his guest room in nothing but his shorts, wrenching the door open and just barely hearing muffled noises from Al's room across from his own. He ignored the noises and went straight to the source of the scream. He knew whose scream it was. It was only once before he'd heard it, but that was all it took to get the noise to play on 'repeat' in his nightmares.

Envy almost ran into the door, but didn't, and his attention was immediately on the knob. He wrapped his hand around it and turned, cursing as it was found locked.

"Damnit!" Envy yelled, further panicked by the sobs he could hear painfully well coming from the other side of the door. Why couldn't he hear them before!

"It's okay! Kick it open!" Envy turned to see Al emerging from his room, barely sitting in his wheelchair right. With a nod, Envy whipped around and struck the door so hard with his foot, he saw plaster explode near the lock as the door opened and slammed into the wall, ricocheting back a bit. A small yelp at the action caught his attention, and he made out Ed, tangled and curled on his bed, bathed in moonlight.

He rushed over to the bed, where Ed looked up at him with wild, panicked eyes. The blond launched up and hugged him desperately. Envy barely had time to register the feel of those sweaty, bandaged arms around him when they pulled back sharply, as if burned by his bare skin. Ed frantically pushed him away with a yelp, falling back and clutching at his hair in panic. The look in his eyes was that of a beaten dog, fighting for it's life.

Envy could only watch in horror as Ed grabbed some of his strangled sheets and tried to pull them over his head, managing to just barely cover half of himself. He had his back to Envy, but his sobs were just as audible as if he were sitting up.

Envy reached a hand out in worry, his eyes wide open in his shock, and mouth open slightly. "Edo, what's happening.."

Just as his hand came into contact with Ed's covered back, the younger teen screeched, "NO!" and Envy backed up hastily. Al wheeled forward, beside Envy, and said in the most calming voice he could manage,

"Niisan, it's okay! You're okay! It's just us, Envy and your brother! Everything is okay!"

Ed only continued to shudder, muttering things to himself and wrapping his own arms around him. Both onlookers wanted to hold him and give their comfort, but neither felt brave enough after how Ed reacted to Envy.

"What do we do? He won't let us near him.. Envy, I don't know what to do.." Al murmured, tearing up. His brother was in so much pain, but there was nothing he could do to help..

".. go away.. just go away.."

Both jerked up at the small whisper. Envy stepped forward again. "Edo? Is that.. you? Edo, talk to me! The only reason all this is happening is because you're bottling it up!" He knelt down and put his hands on the bed. Ed shied away as if he knew they were there.

".. leave me alone.. I'll deal with this.. by myself.."

"That's not going to happen, Ed! You want my help, you said so! I'm here now, so let me help you!"

"Go _Away_!"

Envy was about to yell back, but stopped as a hand fell on to his shoulder. He looked up angrily to see Al, eyes wide and face frozen in fear.

"Envy, leave him. He wants us to leave; I don't want to upset him more."

Envy shrugged off the hand harshly and snarled, "Leaving him like this won't help! I **knew** it was going to end up like this.. You have to talk to us, Ed! Or at least, someone! A quack if you need to!"

"Envy! Come on, leave him alone. Let's go."

Envy glared hotly at the blond, and then focused the look on the other one. Racking deep breaths were his only answer, until, ".. just go.." was whispered. He snorted, getting up and stomping out of the room. Al followed at a slower pace, but hovered at the door, sending a last, worried look at the curled form of his brother.

**"GO!"**

He left, shutting the door best he could with the handle knocked back like it was.

Nobody slept for the rest of the night.

* * *

7:22am - Friday Morning - Elric House Kitchen  
-0-0-0-  
Act 2 - Tough Love  
-0-0-0-

Half-lidded eyes with dark, angry shadows under them stared distastefully at the coffee-maker. Pressed against his lips was the rim of a mug, but the black liquid inside was not invited in.

Envy was lost in his thoughts as he stared, and Al was worried for him. The coffee he had previously been sipping on was probably cold now, since he'd had that very same mug raised for a while.

Envy had never gone back to his room, he went right downstairs, and Al had lost track of what he had been doing. He himself had tried to go back to sleep, but found that he couldn't. It may have been for the best, he reasoned afterwards, since if his waking self was already as fitful as it was, his sleeping mind would have probably horrified him.

Al raised a hand and laid his chin on it, not looking at anything in particular. He had exhausted himself worrying over his brother, and now, he was having trouble keeping a single thought in his head to dwell on. He was worried that the stress would make him sick, and he really couldn't have that when it was his brother who needed to be focused on.

He sighed. He really wished his father was still home, this may have been a little easier with his support.

'But,' Al reprimanded himself, 'The best he can do for us right now is make sure we have a roof to live under, I guess.'

He sighed. The action caught Envy's attention from across the kitchen table, and that violet gaze was diverted to him for a mere second, before settling back on the coffee maker.

'This must be hard on you. Obviously, but still.' Al mused. His eyes darkened for a moment as angered thoughts of blame reared their ugly heads, but they were quickly stamped out. Pointing fingers helped nothing. He'd settled that matter for now.

A tell-tale creak sounded off in the distance, and Al jerked up, not being able to contain himself as Ed inevitably was moving around. Envy didn't move, though he was listening as well. A second small creak sounded, further this time, and the sound of a door, the bathroom door, closing was heard. A couple minutes later, a third creak was heard, and then the soft padding of feet on stairs.

Finally, the tousled-looking teen appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, wearing a long-sleeve black shirt and loose jeans. He looked blankly at the two occupants of the kitchen, and walked over to the small kitchen table, laying a hand on the edge near Envy, who still had yet to look at him.

Al was saying some form of morning greeting, but Envy tuned him out. He glanced over at the hand on the table, and noticed something amiss.

Reaching out, Envy grasped the zipper of Ed's jeans and sharply cut upwards, closing the article of clothing. He then laid his hand back in his lap, muttering something about putting your own clothes on properly. Both actions gained him an emotionless stare.

"Ah.. ano, Niisan? Would you like me to make you something for breakfast?" Al asked, ignoring the exchange. He wheeled forward, looking expectant, like he had all the hope in the world that he would be granted with an answer. Alas...

Those eyes fixed on Al, but those lips didn't move. Looking only slightly disheartened, "How about some eggs? And toast, maybe.."

Al looked away. He knew it was just him, but it was almost as if Ed was.. glaring...

A loud bang resounded from the table, or more correctly, Envy's fist against said table. Al looked at him in shock, and Ed looked at the fist resolutely.

"Edo... Answer him..." The three words were snarled out. Envy locked his gaze on the silent blonde's face, but gold eyes would not meet his own. Envy roughly pushed himself away from the table, getting up, anger making his face look rather frightening. Al wheeled forward in panic.

"It's okay, Envy! I'll just make it anyways! He doesn't have to answer if he doesn't want to!"

"Yes he does!" The older teen said angrily. "Yes he does. He needs to speak. He has to open up!" Surging forward, he pushed Ed right into the opposite wall, near the fridge. He was grasping the blonde's shoulder harder than he meant to, but anger blocked the thought.

"Edo, say something! Say anything! Show me something that will prove to me you're still in there!" He said, almost yelling. He heard Al saying something loudly behind him, but didn't allow himself to hear it.

Ed's face portrayed just the slightest hint of uncalm, almost surprise. He slowly lifted a hand, and placed it on Envy's cheek-

"Stop it! Show me **you!** Edo, show me your real self! Stop hiding!" Envy yelled, out-right furious now. The hand that had been so tentatively placed was grabbed harshly and pinned against the wall behind him. Slightly surprised expression turned fearful.

"Or is this a game to you? Are you playing, Edo! You just want attention maybe!" He pulled the hand back roughly and pushed it against his face again, abandoning it, though it didn't stay there, it just sort of hovered near his neck.

"I'll give you attention, if you'll just **snap out of it!**" Both hands clamped on Ed's shoulders now, he fully pressed into the shorter teen hard. There was the tiniest sound of a squeak, but Envy continued to yell.

"Is this what you want! I'll give it to you! You keep touching me, yet you won't speak! Edo, you aren't the only one to have gone through this kind of pain!" He heard Al sobbing behind him, but only the frightened face in front of his registered. "I'm trying to help you, everyone is trying to help you, but you _won't let us!_" He felt Ed's other hand place itself somewhere near his middle, pushing gently, hesitantly. _Pushing him away.._

"Damn you Edo! **SAY **SOMETHING!" He screamed, pulling him forward and knocking him back against the wall. He felt ready to snap, but through his increasing rage, the quietest of responses was heard.

"… _itai..._"

Envy paled. That one, small exclamation of pain, that one word...

"Envy stop.. please stop... You're hurting him.." Al was crying. He was right behind Envy, but he didn't know what to do. He was frightened by how his brother was being treated, but he just couldn't _do_ anything about it. '_This can't be a solution.. Anger can't be a solution Envy..'_

Envy was staring wide-eyed at Ed, peering into that scared face that should have sent warning bells off in his head before, but hadn't. Now all he could do was stare helplessly, at one of the only real reactions he'd been able to pull out of the blond for the past week and a half.

Fear.

His lips rose in a sort of half-grin, but there was no humor. His eyes proved it.

"Edo... Look at what you're doing to me... Look at what you're driving me to do..." He whispered. Backing up a step, he noticed that Ed's hand was still near his neck, but it was clamped on firmly to a lock of his hair. This he removed forcefully, though not as aggressively as before, and he turned and walked out of the kitchen silently.

Al watched him go, anger playing in his eyes, but he focused them on Ed when the older teen moved.

Ed stepped forward a few steps and knelt down by the wheelchair, resting his hands on the top of the wheel. He looked up at his brother, expression hinting at only the slightest bit of sadness.

_"... Itai.. Niisan?"_

Al didn't understand fully, but he placed his own hands over Ed's, patiently waiting for any other precious words to help him. He felt as hopeful as he looked.

_"... does... it ... hurt?"_

One of his hands slid out from under Al's and just barely touched the fabric of the younger teen's shirt, near his heart. Al understood, and a sad smile took over his features. He moved both his hands and threw them around his brother, holding him in a tight embrace.

"Yes, it hurts. It hurts for you, Niisan. Please get better soon... You can focus on your happiness instead of your pain if you do..."

After a moment, Ed pulled away. He'd looked rather lost the whole time his brother was embracing him, like the concept was not understood to him. As if this was conveyed to Al just by locking gazes, he started to tear up again. Ed turned his head away, watching his brother out of the corner of his eye.

He stood up, and to Al's surprise, reached out and ruffled his short blond hair. He looked up at Ed hopefully, but to his dismay, Ed was merely looking at his hand and seemingly puzzled over his own action. As if satisfied with whatever explanation he'd given himself, if there was one, he left. Al heard the patter of feet on the stairs once again.

* * *

8:01am - Friday Morning - Elric House Living Room  
-0-0-0-  
Act 3 - To Keep On  
-0-0-0-

"Can I trust you with him?" Al asked coldly.

Envy was sprawled out on the couch, and not looking very peachy. He angled his head so he was looking at Al, though everything appeared upside-down to him.

"Go to school."

Al turned his chair sharply to face the living room, and glared at Envy. "I asked you a question!"

Envy looked back at the ceiling and replied with a little too much venom in his voice. "And I told you to _go to school._"

Al was not happy at all about leaving his brother with such a violent person. Sure, Envy had been living with them for almost two weeks now, but his more 'let-loose' nature had been carefully monitored, and Envy had been able to keep himself in check. Now, whether it was the absence of Ed and Al's father, or if Ed was just finally getting to Envy, well, that was up in the air. Safe to say though, he was nervous of leaving now. Al had been going to school most days, under request of Hohenheim, and also by request, had agreed to go unless he felt the dire need to stay.

He felt that need now, but he of all people understood the meaning of 'dire', being prone to accidents with his wheelchair situation. Such a day as today didn't seem to be an emergency, so he didn't want to disappoint anyone by not showing for school. _Like the perfectly punctual child he was supposed to be._

The last part was thought to himself distastefully, but he felt it was true. In any case, maybe his brother needed some time without much other action going on in the house. And, by his own self-ingrained programming, he'd never gain back trust in Envy if he constantly monitored the older teen. So, maybe doing what he was supposed to was for the best, even if he didn't feel as encouraged by the idea.

"You better be responsible. If he isn't okay when I get home, you'll have trouble."

Envy snorted. "Is that a threat?"

A beep sounded from outside, and Al's eyes adverted to the door. His bus was waiting. "No, it is not. It's a _warning._"

A few tense seconds of silence, and Al slowly wheeled his way to the door, glancing back one last time as if to calm some of his nervousness. Sighing, he rolled over the stop and out the doorway onto the wider cemented path, closing the door behind him. From there he made his way to the driveway and down to the bus, where he would be driven to his school with the other kids.

Though, unlike the other kids, he would be wallowing in a murky swamp of anxiety all day.

* * *

11:45am - Friday Morning - Elric House Upstairs Bathroom  
-0-0-0-  
Act 4 - Psychosis Three Two One  
-0-0-0-

'He's been in there for a while..'

'Just leave him.'

'It's really been quite some time...'

'He's fine.'

Envy jerks to complete awareness on the couch as a shattering sound comes from upstairs in the bathroom, where Ed has been for the last twenty minutes.

'That doesn't sound like 'fine' to me..'

'Shit...'

Envy shot off the couch and walked up the stairs at a brisk pace, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Upon reaching the top, he took a sharp right to the bathroom. Of course.. It was locked.

Envy growled. "Edo, what the hell was that? What are you doing in there?" He didn't get any response, naturally, but he heard what sounded like Ed moving further away from the door.

"Edo, let me in." Not a question, an order. After a moment, and still no open door, he kicked it harshly.

"Edo! Open the **door**!"

He was about to kick the poor defenseless door again, when he stopped, listening very intently to a series of whispers he'd missed earlier.

_".. don't let him.."_

_"I want his help."_

_"I_t _i_s_ u_s_e_l_e_s_s _y_o_u_ k_n_o_w

_".. i'll solve this myself.."_

_"Reach out to him."_

_"J_u_s_t _d_i_e..."_

Envy cocked an eyebrow at the whispers; just who the hell was he talking to? No wait.. That was all being said by him. He was talking to himself? .. Not a good sign..

Envy ordered the door to be open again, and finally, the blond relented. The sight that met Envy's eyes was not a pretty one.

"What the fuck.." Envy glanced around the bathroom, and at Ed. His shirt was in the shower stall, soaking on the bottom in the shallow water. The mirror had a spider-web of cracks painting it, and judging by Ed's bleeding right fist, he'd punched it. There were some of the reflective shards littering the top of the sink. Ed's bandages were falling off in some places, and he had small dotting bruises around his left eye (which gave way to the assumption that he'd punched himself as well).

Envy fixed Ed with a dangerous glare. "Edo.. What the hell is this all about?"

Ed looked at Envy like he didn't understand. He then turned and stared at the mirror, on the half that was less damaged. He just stood there, staring, for a few seconds, then half-glanced at Envy.

"E_n_v_y_... " Envy turned his surprised gaze on the younger teen. Ed's eyes were wide, and he had a small smile on his face. It made for quite the psychotic combination.

"E_n_v_y_... T_h_e_y_'r_e_ b_l_a_n_k..._ I _c_a_n'_t _s_e_e.. _Y_o_u_..." He chuckled. Before Envy could even respond, Ed had lashed out and punched the glass again, creating a second myriad of cracks like a web.

"Edo what the fuck!" Envy shot forward and grabbed him roughly, pushing him into the wall opposite to the mirror. The blonde's eyes narrowed in pain for a moment, but went back to wide almost immediately. He grinned at Envy.

"I'_m _w_i_n_n_i_n_g... _E_n_v_y..." The horrified expression on Envy's face was changed to anger. "What do you mean by that! How are you winning, Edo? Winning at **what**!"

Ed angled his head down, those blank eyes piercing up into Envy's. That grin was still in place.

"E_v_e_r_y _n_i_g_h_t_... E_v_e_r_y _n_i_g_h_t_ I _s_h_o_w _i_t _t_o _h_i_m_... a_g_a_i_n _a_n_d_ a_g_a_i_n..." He chuckled darkly, looking away. "_S_o_o_n... _h_e _a_n_d_ h_e_ w_i_l_l_ j_o_i_n_ m_y_ w_a_n_t_... h_e_ a_n_d _h_e _w_i_l_l _w_i_s_h _t_o _d_i_e_ t_o_o..." He giggled like he'd said the funniest thing he could think of.

"Edo, shut up.."

Ed didn't move, other than his eyes angling up. Envy's face showed rage.

"Why do you want to die.. Why would you just give up like that.."

_"Envy. I'm asking you to help me."_

Now he was confused past all hell. Envy had barely seen the subtle change, but it had been there all the same. Just as he spoke that line, his slight grin dropped, and he seemed almost.. less lethal. Just a second ago, he'd said something about wanting to die.. And in almost the same breath, wanted help?

"Edo, I'm trying to help! Tell me how I can help you!" He tried, his voice exasperated. What on earth was going on with him...

_".. i don't need help.."_

"S_e_e? _D_o_e_s_n_'t _w_a_n_t _h_e_l_p... _E_n_v_y _c_a_n_'t _h_e_l_p... _E_n_v_y _d_o_e_s_n_'t _k_n_o_w _h_o_w_..."

_"Tell him."_

Envy swore his eye twitched at he watched the subtle changes flicker on Ed's face, each time seeming to personify a new opinion. It was like Ed was having a multi-person conversation with himself.

In any case, the last part had caught his attention. He decided to add himself to this mess of conflicts if just for the sake of getting some insight.

"That's right. Tell me how to help. How can I help you?" He tried. Immediately, Ed's expression grew dark. He was outright glaring at Envy, and he was shaking just slightly. But just as suddenly, he smiled slyly, seductively.

"_E_n_v_y..." His arms raised slowly, that enticing expression on his face. Those warm arms gently slid across Envy's back, embracing him..

"Stop it." Grabbing the arms and pinning them to his sides, Envy glared at the blond. He was starting to get the idea. Before, he'd puzzled over the idea that part of Ed wanted to die, and another wanted to live. He'd told this to Hohenheim, and though he had not dismissed the idea, he hadn't confirmed it. Envy thought back to that, and applied the theory to Ed presently. It certainly did seem like there was another side to him, but... if you really looked at it hard... there was actually two more..

"_I_ t_h_o_u_g_ht_ t_h_a_t_'s _w_h_a_t _y_o_u_ w_a_n_t_e_d_..." Ed purred. His expression grew dark. "I _t_h_o_u_g_h_t_ y_o_u _w_a_n_t_e_d t_o_ m_a_k_e_ m_e_ y_o_u_r_s... _T_h_e_n _l_o_s_e _m_e..."

_"That's not what he wants. He wants all of me."_

_".. just go away.."_

Okay, this was fucked. Really, really fucked. So, part of Ed thought he was disloyal, another didn't, and the third just wanted him to leave... F-U-C-K-E-D.

"Whatever the hell this is, Edo, I **do** want all of you. Everything, I'm not going to throw you away. I-"

"_Y_o_u_'r_e_ g_o_i_n_g _t_o _h_u_r_t _m_e _E_n_v_y..."

"I'm not!" He caught the blond up in a tight hug, but those cryptic whispers continued.

_".. too late.."_

_"It is not. Tell him how to help."_

"_N_o..."

Despite the unnerve of having Ed speak in three different tones, Envy listened, and tried to pick up on the differences. The one asking for his help was the one he was most inclined to right now, that was for sure.

"That's right Edo, tell me how to help. Let me know.. Please.." He pressed his face into the blond hair, hoping some of his pain would somehow be conveyed through the wall he'd erected around himself. Maybe...

_"Love me."_

"N_O!_"

Envy was roughly shoved away, and Ed was glaring at him, but a wide-eyed, psychotic glare. But Envy had heard.

_"Please remember."_

"S_t_o_p_ i_t_... S_t_o_p_!"

Ed fell back against the wall and shut his eyes tightly. He looked like he was having some sort of major headache, but kept his hands firmly down. Envy inched closer, but before he could touch Ed, the blond opened his eyes and looked at Envy.

Not Blank.

".. Envy?.."

Seeing his expression as normal as it was before seemed to be like a breaking flood-gate. His voice wasn't cryptic, just... tired. But, that wasn't all Envy was seeing.

Green lights, red lights, yellow, purple, colors colors colors... All these were flashing in his face. He was singing, on stage.. In front of thousands... He was holding out his hand, holding it out to the surprised expression of none other than-

"Edo.."

"Y_o_u _c_a_n_'t l_o_v-"

"I can love you."

The scary, dark expression had returned, but Envy cut it off. Ed scowled.

"I'_m_ t_a_i_n_t_e_d..."

Envy crossed his arms and glared. "So am I."

Ed seemed to be panicking, and he screamed. "_I_T'_S_ Y_O_U_R_ F_A_U_L_T _I_'M _T_A_I_N_T_E_D!_"

He rushed forward and punched Envy square in the eye, but of course, Envy held his ground. Ed grinned, like he was expecting the taller male to lash back, but was severely disappointed when all he got was a tight embrace.

"I know, and I'm sorry. You'll live with it. You'll learn to move past it."

They stood there, silently, still. Envy was sure he was going to choke, but he would never cry. That quick moment that he'd seen Ed, seen him like he was before.. It seemed so long ago. But he could stick by his words. He'd gotten over the fear he had to say them. (_I can love you..)_

In that brief moment, when he saw Ed... He realized what he could lose... If he felt that strongly, damnit, what else could it be? No other. It was love. As strange, and even comical maybe as it was to apply the term to him.. Well. Shit. He was a fool in love.

_".. they're blank Envy.."_

"Close your eyes. When you wake up, I'll be your sun."

Silence, then.. He was crying. Small, sobbing cries escaped his lips and tears slowly slid down his face. He kept his eyes closed, and embraced Envy back. The older teen started rocking, just for the sake of comfort, and marveled at his own actions. My... if his past self from as recent as like.. a few months ago could seen him like this, well... His past self probably would beat the shit out of him (or would have tried.) 'Chibi, you sure have changed me. And, though I don't think it's in a good way, I think I've changed you. Heh. I'll make up for it. As long as you'll let me..'

When they had calmed somewhat, Envy had taken the time to redo all of Ed's bandages. Because of his shirt, no one had seen the falling wraps moved from his night's tossing. Al hadn't changed them since it was too early, and so Envy was supposed to do them later anyways. Well, he was doing them now.

There was complete silence as he worked. But it wasn't uncomfortable. Whenever Envy glanced up at Ed (who was sitting on the closed-top toilet), he was.. smiling. A very small, NOT sad smile. Though his eyes were still blank, they didn't seem as distant.

After he'd finished the bandages, Envy berated himself about forgetting Ed's hand. This, he immediately got under the faucet, with warm water and gentle coaxing, he managed to get any small shards of glass out, and the blood cleaned. Back to the toilet seat, and he was wrapping again. Silence as he carefully encased the limp hand with gauze.

_".. Envy.." _Envy looked up slowly.

"_.. they're gone.. I can't hear them anymore.."_

Envy blinked a few times at this, but didn't say anything. Instead, he smiled. Not a smirk, not a grin, a smile.

"That's good. Now all you need is time."

_".. and you.."_

Blink.

Smile.

"And me."

* * *

That afternoon, when Al came home, he found himself talking to Envy for quite some time.

Most of Ed's strange actions, problems, and solutions were explained best Envy could think of without sounding loony, and he managed to convey most of what had happened that morning.

Envy told Al that whatever had been preventing Ed from opening up and coping, was gone now. He had then confused himself by trailing off to the possibility that he may indeed have been coping all the time anyways, though not in ways they could see. Al pointed out that this type of thinking would have him trail in circles, and he quit it, passing it out as a hopeful bright future in any case.

Envy had said that although Ed did not want to see anyone today, he had promised, yes, with words, to talk to him tomorrow. Envy had seen that Al was happy, though a little put out that Ed didn't say anything about him. Envy had felt a rare burst of compassion then, and nudged him with the news that he'd have Ed blathering to him in no time. That had brought a smile to the young blonde's face.

Most of what had happened that morning (and last night) was not truthfully included in the report they were supposed to write for Ed everyday, a Status Report if you will. This had been suggested by Envy, and Al had had it approved by Hohenheim, who was also filled in about the details. He decided that having white-suits drag his son to some ward to be tested and questioned was not the best, especially when it most likely would not be needed. Ed seemed like he'd finally broken out of his cage. Now, he just needed the help of the turning time.

"Well, Envy. It seems like you're a sort of hero. I'm glad you were home." At first, Al thought he was saying this with a sort of underlying jealousy, but then thought about himself in Envy's situation. "I would have been scared to deal with Niisan if he was like that. I would have tried all the same, but still... I would have been very scared."

Envy, who had his chin in his hand and was leaning into the dining room table, glanced at him. He smirked.

"Chibi?"

Al glanced back at Envy.

"I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn't scared."

* * *

**Cat:** ... Um...  
**Kit:** Well. That didn't go according to plan.  
**Seira:** What happened? Someone possessed your hand and wrote for you?  
**Cat:** I think this just sorta wrote itself.. Either that or I gained MPD along the way...  
**Kit:** This changes your arch, like, a lot. Well, more like rushes it, I guess...  
**Cat:** It wasn't supposed to be happy! This chapter was supposed to end off with horrible pessimistic and angsty tendrils of death! Damn my optimism!  
**Seira:** Now you'll really have to work to get angst in there...  
**Cat:** The next three chapters' angst is going to be like ice cream in comparison to this chapter..

Okay, well. That was my largely-changed chapter 18. Ya know... The other Pride!Chapters have had the happy-to-angst slide, and this one reversed it. Ah well. In any case, wow, I am very dramatic. This story is actually really sappy. My next fic is going to be like a slap in the face. Wow the drama..

Just So You Know:  
**1.** I have my own interpretation of Ed's mind throughout the Pride!Arch, but I'm leaving it mostly out, since I want you all to puzzle his actions in your own way.  
**2. **Any occurrences of an uncapped word where grammatically-correctly should have been capped is on purpose. I guarantee it.  
**3.** MPD is Multiple Personality Disorder.  
**4.** If you don't like my over-drama-ish-ness, Bite Me. I'm ficcing for an anime, I'm allowed to be dramatic.

* * *

Chapter 19 - Prudence of Action

Don't sigh your breath of relief yet, Ed's over the worst of it, or so it seems. Time and love, that what he needs, but he is still fragile. As he opens up to those around him, he has to start to cope with the reality of everything that happened, and how it will affect his future. He's having problems, but hopefully, he will be able to do it. Be there for him Envy, this is when he needs you most!

Watch the events unfold, Next time, on

Sin High.

* * *

_But don't forget... The days tick by, and **he** is getting impatient to reclaim what he believes to be his..._


	19. Prudence of Hope

**Chapter 19's Pride!Quote of the Day:  
**"Patience is a Virtue, but Pride is a Sexy!"  
-Cat

* * *

**Cat:** I haven't got much of an excuse for taking so long to update other than "I have a life, and it's BUSY." Sorry guys! (Oggle in sheer awe at the ginormously long chapter though, that'll do to make it up! (or at least.. It better...) 

**Cat Got:  
**Chocolate, Fully dressable and undressable plushies of Ed and Envy, Gold cage with a hummingbird in it, Envy's shirt and green hair dye, 5 pounds of catnip (Okay, if this chapter sucks 'cause I'm high off this, it's YOUR fault. (Smokes up) ... wwwooo-**aaaahh**_hhhh... duuu_ddd_eeee_eee...) 24 Edo shaped sugar cookies, Cup with Envy's picture on it filled with milk (.. milk is good..), Pride!Ed and Edo together as twin brothers from an alternate reality! (... OMG.. The coincidence.. Ack! Spoilers!) An enchilada (shares tacos with muses as requested!), Pocky and reverse pocky? A giant box with something moving around in it making noises that sound suspiciously like a tied up Envy (Oh I **like** this one...), Edo-kun's jacket, PRIDE!ED'S SKORT & TOP! (YES! I'm gonna have a fully working wardrobe soon! .. Like I did for the plushies and animals, maybe I should count my clothes too.. And they say clothing isn't a fun gift to receive..), Portal to the FMA world (Horribly confusing self-insert fanfiction now to proceed.. **Kit: **.. Or not.), Capybara, Denture glue (W!T?F!), unripe pineapple, three pats on the head for Kit and Seira, kick to the shins for Kage (Oh the d00m I'm going to go through now... **Kage: **YOU'RE LUCKY I CAN'T FIND YOU!), pizza, Ed's red jacket and belt (Ooh! Belt! I forgot about that one.. TY! Now.. Only the socks left...), Edible Pride!Ed underwear (.. Yummy... Pride!Flavoured..), Pocky stick, Chocolate covered rice ball (T-chan...(evil laughter)), Seto Kaiba from YuGiOh, Envy plushie that says "I'm smexy" in German every second, Roy's eyepatch and his gloves (Wh00t! Do you know, the Marshmallow Man? The Marshmallow Man, The Mar- (kicked)), Award for best writer (... Someone's gonna kick me now.. For real..), slice of Birthday cake that is Dark Green and Gold (prettttyyy...), Shiny spork, Roses, Magical genie lamp (I wish for...), burrito, Ed's socks (YES! NOW I HAVE ED'S ENTIRE WARDROBE! FUCK YEAH!)

Notes:  
1. I've been asked, "What's the 4th Arch?" a couple times now. - Hehe.. You'll see...  
**Kit: **Healing. (Where, as Cat says, "Everything goes back to about as 'normal' as I can get it.")  
**Cat:** **SHUTUP! ... YOU RUINED THE SUSPENSE!  
****Kit:** Bite me..  
2. Happy (very late) Bday to Misery! Your review made me all blushy and fangirly.. Sorry for making everyone cry!  
3. Rima: Lol, luv the hyperness, I do! Heh, Kage left along with Phoenix during the zaniness of the Zoo-announcing. I must have disturbed them..  
4. Thanks to those of you who commented on the half-italic lines last chapter. They were a bitch to do though..  
5. **ALL OF YOU WHO RECENTLY STARTED THE FIC MAY HAVE SEEN THAT MY "MIRAI" SONG LINK WAS DOWN IN CHAPTER 9. I WAS JUST INFORMED AND IT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO AN ALTERNATE SITE. As an additional note, another song (Only One) by Ed (Paku Romi) is also available through that link.  
**6. AND NOW. For the whole Psychosis Three Two One thing:  
-This an over-view of what went down in that scene. This will also reveal what I was attempting to get across as a hidden meaning. Everyone's interpretation is right, as far as I can say, since it's all in how you look at things. But this is how I meant it:  
-There were three different mind sets/personalities/arch opinions/etc playing in Ed's head up until that point. I labeled them as I wrote the scene so I could keep them separate properly, though I didn't show the labels in the final product. There was Inner Ed; Noted by the double periods before and after sentences as well as no starting capitals, and it was the true side of Ed that we would know. He felt like he could move on and help himself, not wanting Envy's help. The other two sides of him were preventing that as far as we could see. The second personality was Outer Ed, noted by strongly-ended sentences (one period and always direct), as well as wanting Envy's help. He is the side of Ed who wanted to call out, so he is actually an inner conflict that has been given a 'voice'. The last one was Hidden Ed, noted by his creepy alternating italicized letters and the triple periods before and after speech. He is the second inner conflict, not wanting help, and trying to make the Inner Ed feel so helpless and hurt that he'll just kill himself. He did not have confidence that Envy was loyal to Ed, he is the Anger spawned from the whole deal.  
The three switched very subtly through out the Pride!Arch before chapter 18, and plenty of times, it's hard to tell who's who. Usually, it was Outer Ed that we were seeing, but Inner and Hidden sometimes pulled the ropes.  
The Hidden Meaning for the scene, Psychosis Three Two One was the descent from _Three personalities to One_. Note, Ed said that "They're dead, I can't hear them." Meaning, only Inner Ed is left, free to heal and such as he should, though he is more willing to accept Envy's help since he obviously already did by getting rid of the other two in the first place.

... That was longer than expected... And I thought this AN was gonna be short... pfft..

**Cat:** I have a funny feeling that this chappie is gonna be a mix of happy and soft angst... What happened to my hardcore unhappiness! Fuck.. I guess I'm really not all that consistent when is comes to making people wallow horribly in their agonizing despair... Eh.

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 19 - Prudence of Action

* * *

Saturday Morning - Elric House  
0-0-0-0 

Envy watched the shadows on the ceiling. They moved so slowly, it was almost impossible to tell that they were indeed, moving. But Envy was half-asleep, so he didn't bother with such thoughts. He just watched them. Wordlessly. Thoughtlessly.

A door closed softly. The sound seemed to pull him out of his daze. He turned his head grumpily to the window, which was just starting to brighten with the coming rays of the dawn sun. Oh yeah, but a door just closed..

Envy say up in bed and listened intently. It was hard, but he managed to hear the soft treading of feet on floor. Now... Who else besides himself in the house was able to walk..

The footsteps stopped in front of his door, but Envy didn't move. After a moment, they continued, past his door and slowly making their way to the opposite end of the hall. They stopped again, just as an ominous creak sounded. He waited. They continued.

There wasn't a second creak. If there was something Envy had learned about the Elric house, it was that there was a weak spot on the floor in front of the stairs, and the bathroom door. If only one creak sounded, then.. Ed must be going downstairs. Yes, the logic seemed rather odd, but it made sense to **him** at least.

Envy got up and shivered despite himself. The days were getting colder, and the nights worse so. Yeesh, it wasn't even that long since they were at the beach, and now he was complaining about it being cold..

Throwing on a loose shirt and some pants, he paced out of his room and closed the door gently. He looked over in the direction of the stairs, and saw Ed half-way down them, stopped and looking at him. Envy lightly walked over, reaching the top of the stairs and leaning on the post, looking down at Ed with a serene expression. Ed's expression was mostly blank, but there was something there. Envy wasn't sure really, what it may have been, but it made his face look less... Far away.

Ed reached up to him, his palm up and held out invitingly. He looked hopeful now. Envy walked down a few steps and wordlessly offered his hand, which was taken. Ed then turned and proceeded to go down the rest of the steps, Envy in tow.

Well, whatever keeps him happy.

'Whatever went down yesterday really made a difference.. He's still kind of creepy, but at least I can see something in his eyes now.' Envy noted to himself. All he would need now to make his day was for Ed to say something..

They reached the bottom of the stairs in no time, though completely silent. Ed walked around the end of the stairs, continuing down the hall that Envy actually hadn't been down yet.

To the left, a doorless doorway that connected to the kitchen showed the room in complete stillness, the first morning rays bouncing off pans and objects and making quite a neat picture. Envy turned his head away, to the right. A bathroom, a closet, and then a third door. It said, "Office, quiet please." on a small sign, and Envy figured that was Hoho-something's office area, for work or whatever.

The last door, the apparent destination, was the door to the backyard, and Ed reached out with his free hand to grasp the lock and turn it. Task complete, he opened the door and walked them both out into the fresh, crisp morning air.

Ed was wearing shorts and a long white nightshirt, but it wasn't all _that_ chilly, and he didn't seem to mind. Envy took his eyes off the blond and looked around at the surroundings. He'd never been in the backyard before...

Wow.

It was BIG. There were two small, rickety fences going along each side, cutting off the yard from the neighbours', but there was no fence along the back. Mainly, because there was no back.

The mostly-neat grassy land got rougher as you looked further from the house, and then, with a long strip of knee-high rocks as a sort-of makeshift barrier, the land dipped down steeply. Envy hadn't known it before, but behind the Hasawa street was actually a small ravine. About a hundred feet down, he could see from where he stood on the back porch, a relatively-quick stream run on by, making it's way right. Trees dotted either side of the place, casting almost everything in a shadow, and making an intricate matrix of long, varying degrees of black and grey.

"I didn't know all this was back here.."

"Haven't you ever looked out the window?"

Envy tried to hide his surprise at the normal-sounding statement. He didn't want to discourage his blond, now did he?

"Not really... Too bright in the morning, too dark in the afternoon. And damn if I'd be holed up all day." The thought that the last part may not have been such a great statement to someone who had _indeed_ been holed up in his room for two weeks struck him. Well... He wasn't one to fully think out his words, and it was too late now.

To his relief, Ed smiled. He walked over to the bench on the left side of the door and sat down, still holding Envy's hand. Envy took this as an invitation to sit down as well, and he did just that. The younger teen lay back and admired the soon-to-be sunrise. Envy admired _him_.

After a moment of the silence, Envy relaxed, leaning fully against the back of the wood bench and splaying his legs out a bit. The perfect lazy slouch. His left hand was still being held in Ed's warm one, but his other was alone and feeling some of the chill, so he laid it on his stomach. He looked out at the tops of the trees, only just a darker shade of some unidentifiable color that the sky was.

"Thanks for waiting."

Envy turned his head slightly to the left, but his eyes stayed out with the trees.

"Little rough along the way, but no problem Chibi." He said. Now he looked at Ed. The blond looked back at him at the mentioning of the nickname. It was a word he hadn't heard for himself in a while.

Envy cocked his head a little. "Don't want me to call you that?"

Ed shook his head. "It's not that. I like it. It's.. something from before. Before everything.. went sad." That seemed to be the best he could do to describe the situation, but his expression didn't change.

"Alright. Mind if I change how I use it then, if it doesn't bug you anymore?" He got a calm, questioning look in response. Argh.. If only his eyes had been normal..

"I'm not using 'short' anymore. I'm using 'cute'." He said, firmly keeping his gaze locked with Ed's. Well, as the slang went, 'small and cute', but cute none-the-less.

The blond smiled. He turned away to look out at the sky again. The trees' silhouettes seemed even darker against the sky. Envy waited to see if there was going to be a response to his little exclamation, but there was none. Ah well..

They didn't talk for a while, but at some point Ed has shifted over and leaned up against Envy's side, resting his head on the taller male's shoulder. Envy had wrapped his arm around Ed's shoulders and lay his head back against the brick wall, his hair acting as a cushion. It was quite the cute picture after a while. The trees had become extremely dark against the sky, and eventually, the sun broke the line, light spilling out like a wave and bathing everything in a lighter shade of whatever colour it had been before. The lights and darks played upon the two teenagers fantastically, creating a shot that Kei would have killed to take a picture of.

Ed was the first to break the silence.

"I'm sorry about your eye."

Envy shook his head, he looked liked he'd been snapped right out of a doze. "Huh? What? My eye?"

It took him a second to remember, but when he did, he snorted and rose a hand to his right eye, trailing a finger over the circular bruise there. Yesterday, when Ed had gone all "Tri-Ed MPD-ish" on him, Ed had punched him. He didn't feel it then, and really, not even now, but the large blue-brown circle could have told another story had Envy read it off so.

"It's fine. Doesn't hurt. I should really be saying sorry to you, not the other way around." He grumbled. He glanced at Ed, letting his face fall into a narrowed-eye pout as Ed lifted his head and was looking back at him, a calm, mature expression of amusement clear. Man, it was good to have emotion coming from this boy... However belittling it was.

"If you want to say anything to me, I want you to say it. If you want to do anything to me, I want you to do it. I want everything to go back to how it was before. I want to put everything behind me and continue on like it never happened. So don't hold back around me, don't tiptoe." Ed looked at Envy evenly, his eyes, if one looked really hard, a little less distant than before. "Can you do that? For me?"

Envy moved his right hand over and placed it behind Ed's head, twisting his fingers into golden locks. He captured the lips so close to his and kissed with the passion that had been pent up for some time. A few changes in the positions of arms and posture, and they were locked in an oral war, and I don't mean a heated argument.

Breaking for air, Envy grinned at Ed, who was panting. Envy wasn't breathing perfectly smooth either, but he found it amusing to see Ed flustered after so long.

Ed looked up at the wild-haired teen, but before he could say anything, Envy broke in. "Sorry."

"What about?" He said, quickly gaining his wind back.

"You said I should say what I want to, so I did. I'm sorry for everything. Just.. Everything." He frowned. Where was a pre-written script when you needed one? Why did it look so easy in the movies...

Ed smiled softly, lowering his gaze to his arms that circled around Envy's neck loosely. The older teen's own arms were around Ed's waist, one finger slowly moving up and down against his fabric-covered lower back.

"Do you feel like talking about everything? It will make you feel better." Envy said. Ed didn't lift his gaze, he just continued to watch the contrasting skin tones they put off. He started to rub the side of his thumb against Envy's skin.

"Not now. I just want to enjoy my first sunrise.. as myself. I haven't seen it like this in... it feels like so long ago.."

Envy turned his head down, a sort of small nod. He'd get the blond to talk eventually, but no use ruining the moment. It struck him odd that **he** of all people was having a moment in the first place, but in any case, he was. May as well not blow it.

Envy distanced himself just slightly, and looked square at Ed. Ed looked at him back with the smallest of puzzled expressions. His eyes were squinting just a bit, the dawn sunlight was really starting to penetrate.

Beautiful. Envy looked at Ed and could only think, Beautiful. Hair down and shimmering in a thousand golds, and the rays of sunlight making him look so many more tones of colours than he normally would appear with. But really... Just having his expression, an expression where nothing had been for so long... That was the diamond right there.

"Know what Edo?"

"Hm?"

".. Hurry up and get better. At this rate, I'll become some sort of sappy romance poet if you don't."

"... Alright." He smiled.

* * *

Still Saturday Morning - Elric House Kitchen  
0-0-0-0-0 

"Bacon?" Al asked, barely concealing his happiness.

"No thanks. I'll just these have eggs."

Al offered the morsels to Envy, who took them eagerly and added them to his plate. He was getting quite the kick out of Al being practically ecstatic, though it didn't bother his appetite any.

When Al had gotten his first response out of Ed, and it didn't take all that long, he had jumped and immediately looked exuberant. As the time went by, and he managed to hold light conversation as he cooked, he was so thrilled it was a good thing he was such a great cook, else the breakfast being prepared may have been less-than-edible.

Envy was impressed. Not at Al's culinary skills, but how quickly Ed was adapting, allowing himself to open up now that he'd been assured of.. Of whatever it was that Envy had assured him of yesterday. He was still kind of fuzzy on it. He'd said, ultimately committed, his feelings for Ed, and that seemed to be the push he needed to get his life back on track. Who knew it would have just been that one little episode to turn everything around?

* * *

Early Afternoon - Elric House Living Room  
0-0-0-0-0 

"-and I think that.. Maybe I was just sort of, you know.. Confused."

Ed was spread out on the couch, head resting on the arm, and feet on the other. Envy was sitting in the armchair to the far side of the room, near the couch, and Al was stationed close to the door. They were talking about everything that had been going on lately, opening the discussion with informing Ed how he'd been acting and such. Envy's little 'secret encounters' were left out, since only he seemed to remember them (as far as he knew), and he wasn't about to share them with Al (for fear of being labeled a molester or something due to Ed's mentality at the time). But anyways, after the initial shock and apologies from Ed for acting so distant ("-o Niisan! Don't apologize, it's not your fau-"), they had moved on to how Ed felt about everything that had happened.

"Well, it looked pretty convincing to me that there were more sides of you speaking. You should have seen your face keep changing!" Envy said, swinging an arm out for emphasis. Ed seemed fuzzy on what went on the entire time he'd been distant, and that included right up until the bathroom dilemma. He remembered hitting Envy (and himself for that matter..), but he didn't seem to remember the other voices in his head.

"That sounds far-fetched." Ed pouted. It was such a relief that he was beginning to act normal, but the discussion rather prevented much reveling about it.

Envy slouched down in his chair. "Well, it's true. You kept speaking differently, and if I remember correctly.. You wanted me to leave you alone.. but you also said you wanted me to help, and also.. I don't know, you acted really... scary on the third part..." Ack. He didn't like this choice of topic. He sounded looney, he knew it. 'Hey! You have people in your head! Guess what _they_ were saying!'

Al spoke up in his soft voice, trying to connect the two sides. "So, Niisan, you have no recollection of hearing.. voices?"

"No."

Al scratched his head. "So then.. Did you ever feel, torn maybe? Wanting different things at the same time?"

Ed cocked his head against the couch arm, and then turned to Al. His eyes were seeing, though not as bright as they should have been. But they weren't blank at least.

"Know what Alu, that was exactly it. It was just a jumbled mess of... needs..."

Al perked up, finding the bridge between Ed and Envy's different sides. "Then maybe you were just voicing them! All of them! And somehow, they were being presented differently!"

The declaration seemed to win both the other teens' approval, and Ed seemed to look just a little happier now that he had some explanations in hand. Envy was still holding on to his "temporary-MPD" idea, though just by a thread, and out of spite. No matter what it had been that had made Ed act as he did, Envy would always hold some faint idea that there had indeed been three different sides to him.

But it was over now. In any case, it was over.

"So... How are you feeling about what happened now? It's best if you just tell us." Envy said directly, bluntly. He gave Ed a pointed look, clearly saying without words that he wanted the truth, through and through. Ed took the look in completely, almost managing to out-stare Envy, but looked away after a moment.

".. You know.. It's strange... It hurts, that.. that this happened to me, but... But somehow, I know it's going to be okay. I'm still alive, I still have you two, and my father.. I think I'm going to be okay."

There was silence. Finally, Al spoke up.

"Really, Niisan?"

Envy frowned and looked away, but got back to pinning the blond with a look soon enough.

"Edo, you've been in shock for the last two weeks. I don't see how you're so, _accepting_ all of a sudden. Are you sure you're going to be alright?" He sounded rather suspicious, though he didn't care. _He_ himself hadn't been able to talk properly or act normal around people for quite some time, and he had** never **accepted the things Greed had done to him. He moved on, though he would never forget.

"I'm not accepting it, Envy, I'm putting it past me. That person is going to get what he deserves," His eyes turned harsh, and distant. "I'm going to make sure of it. But in the meantime, I just want to get back to my life, I want everything to continue." He smiled sadly. "I think I'm starting to crave the 'normalcy' I had."

"But.. This is okay, isn't it? I thought that trying to 'go back' was going to be harmful? That is what you said, isn't it Envy?" Al questioned. Envy slouched in his chair further, but answered normally. Ed gave Al a look that seemed to question the reason why Envy would have said such a thing.

"Edo, a while ago you were trying to look like you were before that bastard showed up, and I told everyone that it was a bad idea to let you do that." He swung his arms over the arm of the chair, propping himself up higher. "You weren't yourself, and I thought that letting you go back so soon would mess you up. Right now though, you're not so much "going back" as you are "moving forward", so there's really nothing the matter here, ne?" He closed his eyes, waiting for some kind of response. He was laughing at himself inside; he wasn't usually one to rant, especially about such sentimental things.

Ed seemed to ponder over the words, and deemed them wise, very wise. He actually voiced this and then joked bout how it didn't suit Envy, and he laughed at the reactions (both at Envy's loud protest, and Al's shock that he'd made a joke). It was actually the most endearing picture to both Envy and Al to see Ed laughing after such a long period of sadness.

The discussion covered quite a few topics, including the various things Ed remembered, or didn't remember. At some point, he recalled what Greed had said about Envy's house being bugged, and that it was the reason that Greed had known about the police investigation. Envy had been wrathful at the knowledge, and had resolved to letting the police know about it after some convincing. Scary as the topic had been, Envy had told it true-and-blunt to Ed that their time without sight of Greed was probably closing, since the investigation would only stall him a few weeks. Envy had told him that he didn't have to worry however, and informed him about the heightened security.

"You know... It's like I haven't even been here.. It's like I've been far away from both of you for so long.." Ed murmured. Al smiled warmly at him.

"Well, in that case Niisan, I'm glad you're back."

"Me too Alu, me too."

* * *

Between Then and Two Days Later - Monday 

Ed had quickly gotten himself back into the flow of things, acting mostly normal, and truthfully admitting that he felt rather fine despite everything that happened. He said that he'd felt foolish about saying it, but he'd summed up his entire time "out of it" as feeling trapped, and unable to communicate properly, like being behind a wall. Envy pointed out that since this so-called 'wall' was gone, Ed seemed to be coping rather well. In truth, it was probably because Ed was forced to deal with the incident by himself for so long, that he'd became rather accustomed to the thought, however hard that sounded. It was obvious that he couldn't have been able to move on however, had Envy not gotten him to open up.

It was no secret that Ed would probably not be completely alright for a good, long time, but he was determined to try. He was rather embarrassed when Envy had called him strong for it, and Al had agreed whole-heartedly.

There were still times when Ed seemed to sink into a small daze, but it never lasted long, and he was always sure to talk to someone when he needed to, by forceful order of not just Envy and Al, but his father, and the doctor who had seen him on Sunday. The man had remarked on how well Ed was taking his predicament, and made other such optimistic comments, further making Ed feel better about his situation. The doctor had assured him that as long as he was talking about his problems whenever he needed to, there would be small chance of him closing off again and possibly harming himself. It was Envy and Al's job to be there for him.

Ed spoke to Al plenty enough about various things, usually happier subjects, though all his real problems and worries fell to Envy. He still wasn't sure how his bond was so strong with Envy, but it was there, and tougher than nails in any case, and in the end, the two had frequent, long talks about the darker things. The end usually turned out well despite the topics, and this seemed to help them 'get back into the swing of things', because soon enough, the talks grew less unhappy as the subjects grew older, and there was more playful subjects chatted about instead. It meant the world to Ed that he could just talk normally to Envy.

By Monday, the watch out for Greed was slowly being pressured, since it was over the second week and Envy had warned the police about his possible attempt at hurting him or Ed (or anyone else they knew). Also, Envy's house had been de-bugged as the news was shared; disgust and horror on Envy's part, when he realized that there had been over twenty 'bugs' in his house, four of which were small video cameras (and _not_ in modest places). But, on a happier note, away from the scary aspects of Greed and his growing threat, one other thing had been finalized and discussed by Monday.

On Monday, Ed would be returning to school.

* * *

**Cat:** Haha! That's Prudence of Action! Whoo, that part took me forever... I was so writer's blocked, it bet some parts made no sense at all...  
**Kit:** I.. Hmm.. It's not too bad.. Kind of short though.  
**Cat:** That's okay, 'cause I'm not done yet! Did anybody notice how my written chapter title and the title in the scroll bar didn't match?  
**Seira:** Oh my god! I didn't! What's that supposed to mean?  
**Cat:** It means; 

**SURPRISE! DOUBLE CHAPTER!**

My angst that was supposed to riddle the rest of the Pride!Arch is pretty much forgotten, I've had it past my ears with angst, so I'm changing the plan. I need to rush the arch, since it's dragging, and the next chapter (not the one below) is the last Pride!Arch chapter. Then finally, an Arch I can write normally.. But anyways, Here We Go With A Second Chapter! (... Don't review twice just for the occasion, though, kk?)(grin)

(Hey waitaminute.. This is a double chapter and I usually take one week per chapter and I took two weeks to upload this…. (screaming) SAFE! HAHAHAHA!)

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 19.5 - Restored Hope

* * *

**Chapter 19.5's Pride!Quote of the Day:  
**"Pride before the Fall."  
-Unknown (fall on _whom_, now?) 

Ed's eyes were wide, and he was sweating just slightly, panting hard. Envy nudged him, saying something that hadn't been heard entirely, though Ed still felt the older teen's lean body pressed up against him. He was hunched over, his knuckles white from holding onto the only form of stability in front of him as Envy drove forward with a jarring force behind him. They had stopped, and Envy had wondered if he'd gone too fast, too hard. Maybe Ed was too delicate for this sort of activity. He'd tried to be gentle, ease Ed back into the activity that seemed so normal to him, but was still new to Ed. He probably should have left this type of thing for later, when Ed was more 'back in the swing of things'. He probably should have just taken the bus.

What? They'd just arrived to school by Envy's motorcycle, and I'm sure I have NO idea what you must have interpreted that as. (AN: Grinning)

"Envy.. augh.. Couldn't you have tried to go slow.." Ed muttered, more falling off the bike than getting off normally. Envy followed, grinning at Ed even though he was looking dizzy and a little out of it.

"Edo, I **was** going slow! Any less speed and we would have toppled over! Mou.." He trailed off grumpily. Eh. He didn't look _too_ horrible from the experience.

"Ahh, Envy... Everything is so spinney..." He whined. Envy smirked at him, though his thoughts were relieved as opposed to playful as his expression would have had you believe. He paced over a step and slid his arms around Ed's shoulders for comfort. His skin brushed against the dark fabric of Ed's navy shirt teasingly.

"How's this for stability..." He murmured in the blonde's ear, and Ed blushed. He was about to raise his own arms to return the gesture (much less boldly of course), but he was interrupted by a whirl-wind of noise and sound.

Two big bikes roared into the parking lot of the school where Envy and Ed had stopped, although the riders were not nearly as scary as their vehicles, or entrance.

"Yo! Envy! Edo! How you guys doing!" Marcus cheered and jumped off his bike after Kei got off. Duo swung over in his seat and leaped off, cheering a hello. Envy cocked his head at the three, though his expression held a sort of proud seductive hint to it. His smirk was rivaling the tightly pursed lips Ed wore, who was blushing and looking a little frazzled since Envy had yet to let go of him.

"How ya fe- .. oh, sorry, are we interrupting?" Marcus asked, grinning at the obvious situation. Envy answered with a "Yes" as Ed answered with a "No". Kei laughed at the conflicting answers.

Envy reluctantly backed away from Ed as he caught the look thrown his way, and crossed his arms, a little miffed. Even though Ed had been getting better the last few days, Envy hadn't had a chance to really 'spend some time with him'.

Envy was being pretty good about the whole ordeal, but he was no saint you know. He was downright sinful at times.

"So, anyways, Edo, how ya been? You seemed pretty out of it when we saw you last." Duo asked, pointing at the teen in question. Ed looked at Envy with a confused expression, not knowing when the older teen would have been talking about. To his appreciation, Envy answered for him.

"Remember how we didn't tell you guys what was going on? Well, Edo was in an accident. He doesn't remember some stuff from the last few weeks." Ed nodded once, and assured the others that he was fine now. That had been the allied story made up for Ed, that he had been in a car accident and that was the reason he was off school. It wasn't all that nice to have to lie to everyone about it, but honestly, it wasn't their business.

"Accident? Man, first Havoc, then you, Edo.. But why couldn't you tell us before?" Marcus questioned, scratching his head and looking suspiciously at Envy. All he got was a shrug, and he dropped it. There was probably a good reason...

Kei called out something in English, then slapped his forehead and muttered to himself, finally repeating his statement in Japanese. He'd announced that the bell was going to go off soon, and that they should get moving.

"Weirdo, we still have like, fifteen minutes.." Duo muttered, but went to go lock his bike up anyways.

"Anyways, see you losers later, we're going." Envy said, waving off his friends and walking towards the doors. Ed followed, though he didn't make a comment. Marcus called out a long and drawn-out, "Oh-kayyy!" that signaled he had no intention of believing they were off to go pick flowers or study like perfect little students. Envy gave him the middle finger without looking.

Inside the building, Ed and Envy were making the long journey to the third floor (after detouring to the principal's office for Envy to call in to the police - yes, the security measures picked up from before he had his permitted two-week absence). Envy complained about the lack of elevators, and Ed managed to inform him of a few reasons why such a thing would not be good for a school. By the time they were at the top, Ed was aching, though trying not to show it.

Envy turned around when he got to the floor and noticed how Ed seemed to wince a bit.

"You're sure you're up to being at school with those injuries?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Ed pout-glared at him.

"I'm fine, they're just a little sore." He said, looking moodily at the bandages. The stitches wouldn't be ready to come out for another month or so, maybe more.

Envy shrugged, but wrapped an arm around the blond anyways. Ed unconsciously leaned towards him as they walked towards their lockers, and Envy found it to be rather cute. He liked cute.

Envy leaned against the locker next to Ed's as Ed opened his own, rooting through it and swapping items where he saw necessary. Since Envy never did anything of the sort, only grabbing his bag for gym at lunch break, he didn't even look at his locker.

Before Ed closed the door, his eye caught an unidentified object at the bottom of the storage compartment. He bent down and retrieved it, seeing it was a large envelope that must have been slid through the crack of the door.

"What's that?" Envy asked, eyeing the white parcel. Ed shrugged lightly and carefully opened the top. What he retrieved made his whole face light up. It was a full-sized print-out (on glossy paper) of him and Envy curled up on the couch. Envy was watching Ed's expression grow fonder and fonder of the picture, and he couldn't help but smile, just a bit. Damn, he was doing that a lot.

There was a second picture, and it was the one of him, Duo and Envy on the couch at Ed's house, just before going to the beach.

"I.. don't remember this." He said, looked a little distant. He was trying to remember what had happened, what time this could have been..

Envy tapped the picture and filled him in. "That was before we went to the beach. Duo had the both of you looking like kids; he'll probably make a great father." Ed nodded, remembering how Envy had told him about the beach excursion. Of all the things to have fazed out of his memory during his shock, he'd wished that hadn't been one of them. Envy had said at the time that he shouldn't worry, because there was always next summer.

Promising himself to thank Kei, Ed slid the two pictures back in the envelope and put them back in his locker for safe-keeping. He'd be taking those home with him to put somewhere special.

It wasn't long until some other students joined the two, and Ed and Envy both got some questions about their prolonged absences. Ed was easy-going enough about answering, but Envy quickly got agitated and got pissed off at one of the guys doing the questioning, which ended the interrogations pretty quick. Ed calmed him down easy enough, and laughed when Envy pointed this out.

-0-

It was the middle of first period when the door to the classroom opened. Ed looked up from his notes and his eyes widened as non-other than Havoc-sensei walked though the door. Scieszka got up and exclaimed, "Surprise!" and informed them that today was the day Havoc was to come back.

Ed listened to the general ruckus the other students were making, looking back and wondering how on earth Envy was still sleeping through it. The older teen was fast asleep with his head resting on his folded arms, dead to the world. He looked so peaceful...

Whack!

Envy jumped as a cloud of smoke surrounded his head, making him hack. He growled at the chalkboard eraser that had smacked him in the head and tried to find the perpetrator.

"What's with everyone always shocking me awake!" He yelled. Some students were laughing at him, but he soon found out it was Havoc who'd bull's-eyed him. He crossed his arms and glared, not very happy at being ridiculed OR having his real teacher back in class. "Aww, I though you'd kicked the bucket in that crash or something. Why don't you go back to bed for a few more weeks, huh?" He snarled.

Havoc looked more-or-less okay, though his right arm was in a sling. Good thing he was left handed. "Or, Envy, you could explain to me why you were sleeping in class, then tell me why you aren't in the seat I re-assigned you weeks ago."

Envy leaned back in his seat and stuck his arms behind his head. "I was sleeping 'cause I'm bored, and I'm sitting here 'cause I want to." He answered in a 'challenge me, just try it!' tone. Havoc sighed, and felt annoyance prickle down his spine as his ever-too-usual fights with Envy had the attention of the whole class. Scieszka took the opportunity to whisper, 'good luck, Havoc-kun!" and leave the room stealthily.

"Envy, I assigned you away from that seat for a reason." Havoc said exasperatedly. Oh, why did this student always manage to put up some sort of commotion!

Envy leaned forwards onto his arms and got right up close to Ed, who sent him a wide-eyed look. Envy sneered at his teacher.

"Well, you know what they say, _sen-sei,_ Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Havoc was about to reply to this, but saw that Ed didn't look in the least angered by the comment. It was obviously directed at him, but all he was doing was blushing slightly, and keeping eye-contact with Havoc. His gaze seemed to reassure him that the display wasn't some sort of harassment, and Havoc sighed.

Chalk one more up to the gay community.

Most of the students were pretty sure of what all the silent or hinted exchanges were about, and there was a rush of whispers when Havoc dropped the argument, therefore allowing Envy to stay where he was. A lot of interested glances were stuck on the two teens as Ed turned and whispered something to Envy with a disapproving look on his face. Envy just shrugged at whatever it was and leaned back, smirking.

-0-

Before it had felt electrifying, and although it still was, it was relaxing too.

Ed was feeling tired, that sort of tired when you felt very relaxed and peaceful, as he tried to concentrate on the lecture. The waves of contentment that radiated off of him must have been somehow picked up on by Envy, who happened to be the cause of the said contentment, as he was playing with Ed's hair in the same fashion he used to before their two-week absence from school. He was enjoying not only his little blonde's joy, but also the fact that he was touching that same blond. Envy was nearing his limit, he was trying as hard as he could to be nice and soothing, but he _wanted_ Ed, and the only thing stopping him from planning to take him between classes if need be, was the fact that Ed probably wasn't ready for it after the whole Greed _("-cking bastard kill mur-")_ episode.

Little needy? Yeah, probably. But he'd had his nerves shot down for the last two weeks wondering if his first true relationship was to be over before it had even started or not. On top of that, the one who he'd been worried about was always there, so close, but never close enough to touch. Now, that person had gotten over their main problems blocking most of their healing process, and had been acting close to normal for the last few days. Ed seemed to be coping with the ordeal just fine, but Envy wondered just how well he could contain himself.

Ed had no idea just how much Envy liked him.

It was like a deep, dark, haunting possessiveness that he'd never really realized was there. He knew he would _easily_ kill anyone who hurt Ed now. He already had a thousand plans of death pinned up on a mental billboard in his head for Greed. He only recently realized the reason why he'd stayed by Ed so long, through the period of shock, pain, everything. It really was because of the definite want, no, _need_ to be with the smaller teen. They were together, they'd made it official, and dammit, he respected Ed as much as he could (with his disrespectful nature in mind), but there was still the _physical_ needs that Ed presented for him.

Which brought him back to the problem. He had to wait longer.

He was impatient dammit! Ed... He was probably completely oblivious to how much Envy was bending over backwards for him.

A _special_ trip to the washroom after this period would be in order.

-0-

During Envy's mental tirade over morals and such, Ed's thoughts were following a different pattern.

'I wonder if I'm being a burden to Envy? ... Since we're.. together, he hasn't got any sort of.. ano.. _outlet_ for himself..' Ed sighed at his own blush. His eyes unfocused and along with not hearing the teacher anymore, he couldn't see him. Ed was glad he was so relaxed; else his thoughts would have most likely taken harsher turns, turned into more _visual_ thoughts.

'After what happened.. I don't know how far I can let Envy go... not in the meantime at least..' He blushed again, though no one was looking, so he was safe. 'I can handle what he does usually, joking around and playing, but... if he gets serious...'

Ed jerked up a bit in his seat, making Envy cock his head questioningly. Ed didn't respond, so Envy just continued to fiddle with the contours of his braid.

The thought that had made Ed jerk was also capturing his expression in a grim sort of defiance. 'There's no way I will remember _that man_ whenever Envy tries to.. uh... mm.. do anything. No. I will see _Envy_, and _Envy _only. Just let that _bastard_ try to invade my mind when I'm enjoying myself!'

He'd realized that he'd been slowly getting a little riled up, and showing it, but quickly calmed after the last part of his thoughts. The whole part about _Envy_ and _him_ was still sort of new to him.

Most of his thoughts for the last two weeks, or, of which he could interpret, were centered around Envy. 'Does he love you?' 'Will he be loyal?' 'Can he wait for you?'

'Well, when I was finally able to think clearly that one night, in the washroom, yeah. I think he proved a lot to me. A little lacking in the patience area maybe, but he's waiting all the same.'

Ed turned back to his original question to himself. _Was_ he a burden? Envy had to be reaching some kind of limit, he wasn't exactly reigning supreme over his hormones if Ed had to be any judge.

Ed had established with himself that he refused to be scared of doing anything with Envy. If he kept thinking that his memories would bother him when he was with the older male, all he would do was delay his own healing, and most likely tear his and Envy's new relationship apart.

'Even if I see him when I'm with Envy.. He isn't there. All I have to do is concentrate on Envy. He's there for me, he wants to be there for me.' Ed fiddled with his pencil. 'If I put more faith in him, then.. hopefully everything will be okay.'

Ed was aware that it was because if Envy that he was attacked, but he refused to believe it was Envy's fault. He pointed his finger at Greed only. The turn of many decisions had led him to his own demise in that case, but he couldn't, wouldn't blame Envy. He wanted to be with the older male too much.

'I'm still trying to find logical reasons, Envy, but I guess there really isn't much logic to us at all.' He smiled softly at the thought.

Envy continued to play with the blonde's hair, completely oblivious to Ed's thoughts in the least.

* * *

The bell signaling the end of first period rang, and most of Havoc's class got up in appreciation. The teacher had been very animate in his lecture, probably from his own excitement of being back to school, though that hadn't stopped Ed from falling asleep, nor Envy from zoning out into a dead daze. 

With certain chibis aroused from sleep and green-haired terrors broken from their daze by the sharp ringing sound of the bell, there was two more to join the masses of students leaving the room. But not before Ed went to talk to Havoc about his work situation.

"Sensei, I haven't bee-"

"It's alright Edward, I've been informed that you were away due to injury. I've had Scieszka gather all the work I'd laid out for the past two weeks and she's kept it for you." Havoc interrupted. Ed seemed rather relieved at his teacher's good management, and honestly, Ed had decided right then and there that Havoc was a very dedicated teacher.

He handed over the folder of papers with "Edo" in big black marker written on it, and chucked at Ed's reaction to the nickname. Envy popped along and mentioned that he'd bring in all the stuff he'd finished recently, since one of his friends had always brought it to school for him when they came along to say 'hi' or drop off his work. Envy had actually gotten pretty much everything done since he didn't have anything better to do. Stuck at someone else's house in 'lock-down-house-arrest-sorta-thing' as well as not having anything (or any_one_) to play with tended to make one bored enough to do home(and class) work.

In any case, the two teens left the empty classroom with a wave from their teacher. Once outside amongst the bustling students though, they had to separate for second period.

"See ya at lunch chibi." Envy said with a smirk as he went to go for the stairs across from Havoc's classroom door. Ed was about to reply with his own version of goodbye, but decided to test out his own little doubts from earlier.

Envy looked back when he felt Ed's hand grip his thin wrist, and he raised an eyebrow when Ed came close and rose up on his tip-toes to plant a kiss on his lips. He was shocked, to say the least, but he returned the kiss eagerly enough, adding his arms around the shorter male's waist. The spectacle earned them a few pairs of eyes, though they didn't seem to notice (or care maybe).

Ed pulled back, looking up into Envy's violet eyes. He'd always be impulsive...

"Well," Envy smirked, flipping one of Ed's blond bangs. "That was random."

Ed held his bottom lip between his teeth and grinned, looking like a kid presented with candy. Envy was a bit taken aback by the joy in his eyes, but waited for Ed to say something.

"I only saw you, Envy." He said. He was still smiling, and as suddenly as he'd taken hold of Envy's wrist, he let it go and dashed off to his next class.

Envy stood there, a little surprised by the light-hearted actions, but happy none-the-less that they were at least coming from Ed. He didn't get what the blond had meant by the statement following the kiss, but it apparently meant something to Ed.

'Well, whatever. He's happy enough right now, so it's fine. As long as he isn't all cryptic on me like before, I'll be just peachy too.'

He still felt inclined to make that _special_ trip to the washroom though.

* * *

Envy opened the door to his second period class, room 251 on the second floor. He was presented with his overly-strict-stick-up-his-ass teach Frank Archer, who was apparently in a lecture with the class. He was one of the History teachers, and Envy was unlucky enough to have put off his only required History credit until grade 11, and when he _had_ gone for the credit, he'd had Archer, who'd failed him with flying anti-colors. Low and behold, when Envy got around to try for the course again, he got Archer, again. 

He hated his damn History class; he was literally the _only_ senior in the class. To place his fifth year of high school in on top of this, he was older than his peers by two years and he was _still_ skulking around at the bottom of the mark update paper.

There were giggles from the class, though they hushed pretty fast. The only reason why no one was asleep through Archer's lethally boring lecture was because he made you stand with your hands on your head if you were caught dozing off. For every noticeable fidget, he made you stay after school for five minutes.

"You're late, Mister Envy." He drawled, more than happy to stop his lecture to put the teen on the spot. He was scarily devoted to his topic, he was a complete war fanatic, but he was a patronizing bastard at heart, and loved to prove it.

'And you're an ugly fuck,' Envy thought to himself, but dared not say aloud. He was as sarky as he could get away with around Archer, but he was actually careful not to step over some boundaries. The few times he mouthed off to the tall man were never fun, and he never came out on top of the situation.

"I was going to the washroom. Didn't know it was a big deal." He muttered, stalking over to his chair. He was a bully to his fellow _seniors_, so he was considered a terror to the poor juniors, and not one of them were giggling at him or looking him in the eye.

Archer looked piercingly at the sullen teen (he _really_ hated this class) and was gently amused to see that Envy returned the look. Oh, it was always fun when they challenged him...

"May I ask, _why_ you were in the washroom for so long? I have begun my lecture, and you are fifteen minutes late for it. Do you need fifteen minutes to urinate, Mister Envy?" He drawled in his annoyingly slow voice. His lazy, narrowed gaze was pissing Envy off faster than his failing patience could keep up with.

Envy seethed in his seat, glaring for all he was worth at his most hated teacher, but was somehow, miraculously, able to contain himself. Archer seemed satisfied with the silence, and set on to further goad the teen. He was very disappointed when students missed his fine tellings of various wars, many of which, he or his father had been in, and Envy's disappearance for two weeks with _permission_, irked him very much.

"Mister Envy, hand in your papers assigned from Wednesday to Friday, as well as the weekend homework." Envy growled, and some students were peeking at him from the corners of their eyes, some waiting for him to snap, and others waiting for some reaction at all.

"They're at home. I'll bring them tomorrow." He muttered. Archer's very small smile inched up just slightly.

"You will not. I expected them today. Zero on all five assignments and both essays." He was as close to smirking as he would allow himself to, and it was easily portraying his mirth. He loved, _loved_, belittling his students.

Envy ground his teeth together and snarled out his retort. "I'll bring them tomorrow, they're perfectly fine assignments, who cares if they're late?" Usually, he held himself surprisingly well around Archer, but being away from his ugly face for so long had taken a toll on his resilience for the vile man.

"Zero." Archer repeated silkily, and picked up his pointer to continue his lecture. Envy stood up angrily, cursing under his breath and made his way to the door. Archer caught the predictable movement and headed over himself, blocking Envy's departure.

"Move, I'm leaving." Envy growled, dreading the fact that he was surely about to have another embarrassing one-sided fight with the teacher. Damn his _pride_ sometimes...

"Sit down, Mister Envy, you do not have my permission to leave class. You have already interrupted me long enough. In fact, I'd like you to stay for one hour after school for your continuous outbursts." He said. He was outright smiling now, a sick, sadistic smile. Envy shot him a venomous look and turned around huffily without a word. Archer turned to make his way back to the front of the class, but swung around again as Envy made a dash for the door that he had fully expected the teen to do. He _had_ been stuck with the egotistical teen for a whole year before, and he was an excellent judge of character.

Within twenty seconds, Envy was pinned against the door face-to-wood, struggling and growling. His left arm was being held in a vice-like grip so his wrist was practically level with his neck, and Archer's right hand was holding his head against the door so his nose pressed painfully hard against the hard surface. He half-turned to the surprised class, some students were standing up to get a better view.

"Andrews, Kim, McCarthey, and Yamamoto, sit down." He railed off leisurely without a second's hesitation. He had a memory like a steel trap, and could whip out a student's name so fast it made even the other teachers wonder. "Now class, Mister Envy has volunteered to demonstrate the various defensive holds I was just explaining. This particular hold was often taught to the guards that patrolled the outer parts of the barricades, they were to keep rogues until sentr-"

The continued lecture was lost on Envy, who was trying desperately to break out of the hold. The fabric of his tight black vest (which was the only clothing on his upper body) was very uncomfortable, but mainly Envy wanted to get the hell away from his 'psycho bastard teacher' as quickly as possible. When it was clear he wasn't going anywhere (was it possible for one's arm to go that high! Augh!) he shouted out obscenities, reaching his patience quotient for the day and diving off the deep end.

"Fuck off you stupid shit! Let me fucking GO!" He snarled, trying to use his knees to push off the door. Archer continued as if he hadn't heard him, but Envy found himself on the floor, his arms being held back and a hard shoe on his lower back.

"-prevents them from attacking back, as you see, also, through means of infliction of _physical persuasiveness_, demands can be met on the spot, such as origin and explanation of-"

Envy had one hell of a second period class.

* * *

The cafeteria door would have slammed open and smashed into the very wall it was attached to, but thankfully, it was already propped open. Good thing, because Envy stormed in with a metaphorical cloud of PISSED OFF hanging over his head. 

He stalked past one of the closest tables, gathering many eyes towards him since he was really the only one standing; it was already twenty minutes into the lunch hour. One poor kid that had happened to be in his second period class giggled as he was just passing, and Envy spun around on his heel in wrath. The kid barely had time to look surprised as he was dragged off the bench by his front collar like a rag doll and held right up in Envy's vengeful face.

"Something funny, dipshit?" He snarled. The teen shook his head, eyes wide and rambling apologies in a hurried tone. Envy dropped the kid and continued along towards the table he'd spotted Ed at. Always in that corner.. little unsociable chibi...

He sat down (more like slammed his ass to the bench) and would have made an imposing figure had he not collapsed and laid his head down on his arms, looking up into Ed's wide eyes with an angry pout.

"Um... Dare I ask?" Ed said uncertainly. He put his forkful of some sort of dry-looking pasta down and fixed Envy with a concerned look.

"I need you to be my puppy, or I'm going to leave and go beat the shit outta some freshman." He muttered. Ed just blinked at the statement/request and responded with a low, "Um... okay..". Envy immediately got up and flipped over the table, only to sit down again right up against Ed. He rested his head against Ed's shoulder and closed his eyes, to all appearances trying to calm himself after some ordeal or other. Ed just blinked in surprise, and, without a word, continued to eat his lunch.

* * *

By the time it was time to go home, Envy and Ed had had it up to their hair with questions of where they'd been, what had happened, on and on. Ed didn't exactly love it, though it was still soothing in the way that it was normality, although Envy was just plain annoyed by it. 

When the two had met up after school so Envy could drive them home, Ed had commented on how the temperature had dropped, and although it was only moderately cool this morning, it was chilly now. Envy had joked about how he was more than willing to keep Ed warm, though Ed had plenty enough heat coming from his face after the offer.

They spotted the under-cover police car stationed near the building; they'd seen the car before when being introduced to the officers, so they knew the car already. You would have never guessed that the blonde lady and her silver-haired partner were police officers. Envy waved to them with a big grin on his face, just to be cheeky. He wasn't supposed to even look at the car, much less wave.

On the ride home Envy went rather easy, and Ed actually got the guts to look around while they drove.

People milling about, cars with drivers in them on their way to and fro... The world was going on just perfectly normal even though _his_ world had been turned upside down just recently. Go with the flow...

As they came to a stop at a set of lights, Envy cursed, and Ed shifted to look up at Envy, asking in a voice that would carry over the motor, "What's wrong?"

Envy had a strange expression on his face, and he replied rather cryptically, "Archer gave me an hour... And I didn't go... Shit.." Aw man.. That damn teacher always had the worst punishments for detention-skippers... He would have just never gone back to the class, but he _needed_ this credit!

The light turned green and all further conversation was halted as Envy moved them forward, taking one more street then veering off to the sidestreet that would lead them to Ed's house. Upon arrival a few minutes later, Ed got off the bike, and for the first time if he remembered correctly, without feeling sick.

"I think I'm starting to get used to your driving." Ed said happily as Envy cut the motor after inching the motorcycle into the garage. He would have replied that he was doing literally no tricks and went at a fifth the speed he normally went, but why burst the poor kid's bubble? Oh.. because it was funny...

"Driving, maybe. **My **driving, no. But I'll have you loving the wind in no time." Envy smirked, knowing that such 'training' would earn him a lot of screaming and whining. Aw shit.. Now he needed to make another _special_ trip to the washroom...

Ed went up to the front door and fished out his key to open it. He saw a big piece of white paper taped to the wall with, "At friend's for project, I'll be home at 8. Be good! -Al" written on it. Ed sweatdropped. He'll be _perfectly_ good, thank you very much...

Ed took the paper down, but not before Envy glanced at it over his shoulder. He muttered something about not wanting to be good, though Ed ignored it. He had _work_ to do..

And so, snacks, paper, pencils, boredom, and nightfall later, and Envy was sprawled out on Ed's bed with said blond working busily at his work desk. He had an ENORMOUS amount of work to do, and although everything was bent around and messed with so he could catch up (extensions and such), it was still a major feat even for _him_ to attempt to catch up with everyone else in four different classes with two weeks of work, all to be attempted within the week.

Time for his prodigy-side to kick in.

Envy had been told off twice for distracting him, and he had resolved to just staying on the bed and being silent. He was watching Ed though, but tried to be discreet so he wouldn't get told off for _that_ too.

Eventually, Envy couldn't contain himself any longer and got up, walking across the small room and wrapping his arms around Ed's shoulders (as well as the back of the chair).

"Envy, please, I have a lot of work to do!" He said exasperatedly. Envy glanced at the clock and his eyes widened.

"Edo, it's almost seven. You've been at this for hours, take a break." He purred. Ed groaned, not wanting to part with his essay on nano-something-whatever. "Envy.. I'm going to lose my thesis, It'll take me a long time to get it back on track!" He whined. Envy purred insistently in his ear anyways, not one to give up.

"You'll drop dead if you work for so long. Just come and lay back for a bit, or at least let's go get some thing to eat.." Envy finished off in a childish tone, realizing that he was actually really hungry. Ed gave him a flat look, as if following his thoughts, and sighed, giving up.

-0-

Al wheeled in the front door minutes later to see Ed and Envy puttering around off in the kitchen, and he closed the door, continuing his journey to the other room. Crossing the dining room and making it into the kitchen, one corner of his mouth turned up whilst the other stayed put, a classic "I Disapprove Be Scared Now" look. A bag of chips as well as two bowls of ice cream and some soda cans littered the table, and Envy was rooting in the cupboards while Ed scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Uh, hey Alu!" He half-grinned. "How was school?"

"Don't tell me that's your dinner..." Al said, pointedly ignoring the attempt to change the subject at hand. Ed didn't say anything, but looked away, a mix of emotions playing on his face, one of which was amusement at their situation.

Al sighed. "Put it away, I'll make something up for you guys, okay?" He said, though he was smiling. He figured that his brother was going to have a lot of work to catch up on, and he also had predicted that there was going to be a snack-raid-posing-as-dinner type of situation. He was armed with chicken fingers and salad for just this occasion.

With the two older teens royally banished upstairs for the next twenty minutes, Al switched on the small television that was bolted in place on top of the fridge, usually left alone, but he happened to need it right now. He used the remote control to switch it to the news channel, and he listened while he worked (cue Snow White theme). He had to be on alert for recent events, as his project (the one that he'd been at a friend's for) needed plenty of articles or news-casted stories, since it was a collection of happenings that had been going on for the last little while. The point was to find trends and such in various areas of the media, but that was all lost to his mind a minute after switching on the news channel.

Al stared unblinkingly at the screen as a certain name was used repeatedly by the reporter and police officers and detectives, but he got over his shock soon enough. He rolled out of the kitchen and hollered upstairs to the two unsuspecting teens.

"**NIISAN! ENVY! **GREED IS ON TV!"

* * *

Whoot! That's my double chapter! 

**Kit: **So, this is that last Pride!Thing chapter?  
**Cat: **No, the next chapter is the last PRIDE!ARCH chapter. Next is the Healing Arch.  
**Kit: **Isn't he healing in this one?  
**Cat:** Yes, but he's still coping through the next one too, though it's stressed very little. When Ed is noticeably better about his condition, the "Healing" part starts referring to healing their relationship, and other such stuff. It's gonna be my fluff arch. It'll be quick-paced though, I really need it to be, and fluff will end up.. _More..  
_After that.. Well, I'm really shifting my plans around, so I don't know how much longer Sin High goes on past Healing. It does go past though. Half arch, one arch, two.. I don't know.  
**Kit:** Wow. Hm.. Good luck.  
**Cat: **Thanks.. I need it...

**1. **If this chapter seems too rushed, it's probably because I need to get away from the rape-angst. It and the Pride!Arch are leaving me without ideas, and I'm getting discouraged with it. So, moving on, we get to the meat and potatoes of my fic.. The Relationship! ... With.. full utilization of it's rating (wiggles eyebrows).  
**2. **I'm not trying to explain everything that went on with Ed, and there are multiple theories presented by characters. I'm not saying who's right or not, it's up to you to interpret.  
**3.** I know I took a long time. But hey, this chapter is longer than chapter 14, making it the longest chapter so far. So be _happy_! (Plus it's TWO chapters!)  
**4. **I want ice cream...

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

* * *

Next Time: 

Sin High

Chapter 20 - Justice Pending

* * *

**First Arch **- Intro - _"Laws to live by".  
_**Second Arch **- Relationship Building - _"Bird Titles."  
_**Third Arch** - Pride -_ "Seven Heavenly Virtues."  
_**Fourth Arch** - Healing - _"Songs in Relevance."_

Cat


	20. Justice Pending

**Chapter 20's Pride!Quote of the Day: (Last one!)  
**"Temper gets you into trouble. Pride keeps you there."  
-Unknown (Uh oh.. Envy's been _nauuuuughtyyyyy... _)

* * *

**Cat: **HAPPY EASTER! 

**Cat Got:  
**Ice cream, Rusty spoon, Al's underwear (yummy.. first Pride then Al... I smell a Vengeance!Al fic brewing... not.), Whipped cream (gives to Envy), Ed's outfit from the movie, Trisha's dress, Ice cream, Dolls of Edward and Envy in matching black and white maid dresses, Gallon of cookie dough ice cream, a palm tree, Alphonse plushie, Shoe that changes colour, Greed's fuzzy jacket, Dummies guide to voodo (for the muses), Two gallons of ice cream, Envy's gloves (Oooh! I _wanted _these so bad!), black and red box for Kage, Chocolate for the muses, Chocolate pocky for everyone, A BIG box that has muffled protests from it, Midoriko's drawings of various scenes from the story, AlternateUniverse!Envy (tied up and in a jar), Edo's hair band, An automail kit, a scythe that Pride!Ed uses, Hied and Alphonse, Ed's BBI dress (Seira tries to force this on Kit), An Edo doll that says many reactionary 'Short Protesting' phrases when you poke him, cookies, San Diego comic con badges, Tons of ice cream, Cookies of Almighty Chocolate-ishness for authors and muses, Ed's belt and watch, Ed's brown suitcase ( hmm.. whatta we got here.. Ooh! Undies!), Purple socks for Kit, Rats for Seira (**Seira**: Hey, I'm not an eag-** RATS! OMG! KIT, HELP! KillitKillitKillit!)**, Rabbit's foot (What did you do to my **Bunny!), **Four-leaf clover, Ice Cream, Edo himself (**Cat**:... hehehehehehehe... Edo: .. eep..), 5lbs of catnip (I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN IF I AM CHARGED FOR POSSESSION! XD), Headless Greed and Roy plushies, 10 cookies and an Envy plushie, Fried chicken, a Kitten for Kit (**Kit**:... (hides face) - **Seira**: Aww! She's blushing!), a Cat for Cat (**Cat**: AWW!), Nine-tailed fox (Kyuu-chan!), Envy's headband/short/tanktop, truckload of ice cream, UNbroken pencil (To the giver - Yes, yes it does!), Flamingo (to Switchblade - Corruption is what I do best!).

Notes:  
**1.** koneko-kitty-chan: Yeah, I'm confusing myself with all my ramblings of how long or not Sin High is going to be, I don't know anymore how much further I'm going to take the story! Hehe, but don't worry, I have in the **least**, another 10 chapters to go. Least.  
**2.** Kuroi Koori: Weeeeeelllll... Ed's not all **that** 'hokie pokie'... You'll see! (grins)  
**3.** Lots of people seemed to be rather sure that Greed was going to be caught in this chapter. _Au contraire..  
_**4.** I _hope_ you don't mind this, Hope Rising, but I had to give a double-quoting of your review, they were too funny to leave out of the AN...  
Quote - Hope Rising - Parody of: Sin High chapter before this one:  
-"NIISAN! ENVY! GREED IS ON TV! ... AND HE'S ON OPRAH!"  
Also by Hope Rising, parodying my fake-soap-opera crack-previews:  
-"Next time on Sin High: Greed kills William Shatner, Havoc is secretly Quail Man, Wrath is doubling for that girl on The Ring, Envy and Ed give Archer AIDS, and STILL no one understands Kei."  
(I was eating a PIZZA POP when I read this, I laughed so hard I almost choked. You nearly KILLED me!)  
**5. FINAL CHAPTER OF THE PRIDE!ARCH! REJOICE, REJOICE!  
**6. Misery: I don't mind you RPing the fic, though I'd like to know where and why just for the heck of it (grin), though you don't have to tell if ya don't want to (chu!).

**Cat:** Hey.. My AN is actually kinda short (...) this time... Waitaminute... Where's Kit and Seira?  
**Kit:** (upstairs) CAT GET THIS CRAZY CHICK OFF ME!  
**Cat:** ? O.o  
**Seira:** (also upstairs) Kitty, make sure to thank that reviewer who gave you Ed's BBI dress!  
**Cat:** Uh... It's mentioned above, so that's my thanks, but.. uh... What's going on?  
**Seira:** (yelling over frustrated yowling) See you at the end of the chapter! I'm gonna make this girl look **_fine!  
_****Kit:** (screeching)  
**Cat:** O.o...  
**Si' iru:** (walks into the den) Dare I ask what they're doing up there? (I'll skip an intro since he's not musing for SH)  
**Cat:** Don't worry, Kit's not cheating on you. Has something to do with a dress though...  
**Si' iru:** 0.0

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter **_20_** - Justice Pending

(20 20 **ZOMG 20! ... **(dies))

* * *

_Al stared unblinkingly at the screen as a certain name was used repeatedly by the reporter and police officers and detectives, but he got over his shock soon enough. He rolled out of the kitchen and hollered upstairs to the two unsuspecting teens._

_"**NIISAN! ENVY! **GREED IS ON TV!"_

* * *

Not seconds later after he called, two rushed sets of steps rumbled down the stairs. Al wheeled back into the kitchen to avoid blocking them, and soon enough, the three teens were watching the news alert with shocked expressions. 

_"-en police followed a tip-off from an unnamed source. Immediately, the dock-houses by Ta Bay were surrounded, and as the informant had said, the 25th dock-house was being used to store massive amounts of drugs. Officials have not released accurate amounts yet, though from what I can see... It seems like there is wall-to-wall of crates full, I guess that's what all these fork-lifts are for."_

Ed sat down, peering at the screen, waiting to see how this related to Greed. If they were talking about a major drug-heist, then did that mean...

"You've been busted you fucker.." Envy whispered, though he was mesmerized by the casting, so his words didn't have much bite to them.

_"-was right, the fork-lifts are moving in, and appear to be loading up on the crates. Oh! One crate dropped- .. That's a lot of drugs... Mike, are you getting that? Okay. Now, back to the scene.. Oh.. Hold on folks, we're being forced back! We'll cut to a commercial, and be right back!"_

The scene of a news caster holding her coat around herself in what appeared to be windy and cold weather changed to that of a hair-curler commercial. Envy turned to Al and said, still shocked,

"You said Greed was on tv? Was he really on the news?"

Al nodded energetically and pointed, trying to emphasize his point. "Yes! They kept saying the name "Greed" and they were showing clips or something of him running away, they zoomed up into his face, he's just like the picture in those files we saw before!"

"Wait wait, running away? As in, just recently, he was running from the docks?" Envy cut in. Al nodded again. "When I started watching it, he was running and got into a car, and he drove away. I didn't see much more than that, I went and called you two."

Envy nodded and leaned against the fridge. "I mentioned he was in the drug business to the police, but.. If what that news chick said is right... He's in a **lot** deeper than he was when I was with him before..."

"So... If he's found as being a threat... Even more-so than he was before..." Ed trailed off.

Envy grinned humorlessly. "If he's big enough, then he won't just have to worry about Central police sending an alert out for him on account of rape and possession, he'll have much bigger shitloads hitting his fan."

There was silence for a moment or two as each teenager contemplated the events, but soon enough Al broke the silence.

"Oh! They're back on!" Al said.

_"We're back, and with the latest break on what is being considered the largest drug bust in history! For those of you just joining us, a newly-discovered drug-lord who goes by the name "Greed" was just found in Ta Bay's 25th dock-house. An informant gave up precious information on the actions of the group, and police as well as Nihon Special Forces and.. I have a whole list of names here, so I'll leave it at that, they showed up at the docks around an hour ago. Channel 6 news managed to get on the scene ten minutes into the stake out, and we captured footage of when the drug-lord Greed escaped with an armored vehicle. Two more vehicles left the scene, and we've received notice that pursuit failed. Now, the sce-"_

The three teens watched in fascination as the story of what went down only one city away from them unfolded. The newscaster actually got one of the higher-ranking members of the NSF to talk to her, and he estimated 30 billion dollars worth of drugs, most of it cocaine. It was officially released that there was a national alert out for Greed's arrest, and that the US was quietly making it's own investigations, possibly to spread a second national alert as they suspected a connection as told by the informant.

"I had no idea he was so... Huge." Envy whispered, sitting down in the chair opposite to Ed. Al was sitting in his wheelchair between them, so they half-circled the kitchen table. Ed looked up at him rather timidly. He was worrying for Envy. If Greed was so big, and he hadn't already kidnapped Envy yet.. Then was he just playing? With multi-billion dollar deals, he could hire someone to nab Envy whenever he wanted. Why was he messing around?

When Ed managed to voice his questions (though very much reworded than his thoughts), Envy had snarled something about Greed being a cocky bastard.

"He wants to keep himself looking humble, that's why he's so casual about how he does stuff. Just to flaunt it when you realize just how _good_ he is or how _much_ of something he has.." Envy muttered, narrowing his eyes. Scenes that he wished to be gone from his memory forever flashed in his mind, but he did not talk about them. He didn't need to.

"Envy... Are you okay?" Al asked uncertainly. Envy gave the boy a flat look. "I've got a billionaire psycho-drug-lord-rapist after me. And I haven't said anything about it before, but he's obsessive. It's been four years since I trashed him in that bike accident. He's pissed at me. He's probably been obsessing over it, and me, for all this time. I'm just **peachy.** How about you?"

Al looked a little hurt, and Ed stated, "You don't have to snap at him. He's just trying to help." Envy glared half-heartedly, but couldn't find the will to get angry. He usually got angry when he was nervous or worried, but now.. He just couldn't. All he could do was worry about the threat.

The three teens looked at the tv and momentarily stopped the discussion as it was announced that the US along with Europe had declared nation-wide alerts. Ed looked over at Envy and noticed that his expression seemed neutral. It was different, Envy was a very expressive person, so such a.. blank look didn't suit him. Finally, he opened his mouth a bit, but it took a while for the words to come.

"He'll be in hiding." Al's hands started to clench and shift against themselves, a nervous habit of his. Ed just watched Envy, waiting to hear if there was more to the statement.

"He won't be able to do shit. With the amount of money he's gotten himself into.." A humorless smirk crossed Envy's lips. "He won't do a damn thing. Anything he tries will be traced back to him." He didn't look pleased with his own observation though. "Wish they would have just caught him there at the docks. But I guess that's just too hopeful." He half-smiled at Ed, though his eyes looked mad. There was going to be a long pause, a pause where they wouldn't have to fear Greed as much. Though, and Envy knew it, when he decided to finally make his move, it would be swift, unexpected, and even worse than it had probably planned to be already.

The silence hung like a curtain, and Ed wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn't. What could he say that Envy didn't know already? It was true that he had only recently been hurt by Greed, but now, this was Envy's problem, and he was in a lot worse than Ed was. Ed had no words of wisdom, or even courage for him, but he thought comfort might be enough for him maybe. Envy sent Ed a small, very small smile of gratitude at the warm hand placed on his own.

A piercing ring split the air, making the three jump. Al held a hand to his chest to calm himself, then reached out and picked up the phone. After a moment, he said, "Yes, he is." and handed the phone to Envy with an unreadable expression.

Taking the phone, Envy placed the top end to his ear and waited for the other person to say something.

"... Hello? Mr. Envy? Is someone there?"

"Who is this and what do you want?"

"I work for the Central Police Force, my name is Cohan Dennis. We met a couple weeks ago when you were offering your information on the criminal known as "Greed". Recent activity with this man has proven him to be much more dangerous than we thought, and we'd like you to-"

"I don't know shit about his drug-dealing business." Envy interrupted. Al flinched and commented that the interruption probably sounded rather suspicious to the man on the other line. Envy snorted and shrugged.

"Uh, okay, but it's procedure since you have had recent contact with the criminal. Mr. Edward Elric is also requested for any information he may have. You both will be picked up six o'clock pm sharp tomorrow to offer anything else you may know. Please be ready and dressed appropriately. You will be escorted by three police vehicles as well as your house-guard."

"Whoo, we get a royal-ass entourage, can I hang up now?" He drawled, not looking pleased at all. The man told him a couple more things (though rather curtly), then told him he could go. When they both hung up, unbeknownst to each other, they both had the exact same word running through their minds:

Asshole.

* * *

12:13am - Hong Kong (China) - A small bar/club somewhere  
-0-0-0- 

Greed was not happy. Not happy at all.

He was grinning, teeth shining in the low light of his small, smoky room. But he often smiled when his mind was angered. It made for quite the mixed interpretations when he _did_ smile for real.

He'd been too cocky. Way too cocky. And now, he was paying for it. Big time.

He wasn't a billionaire like his deals made him out to be. He liked to live as recklessly as he could, so major transactions with major profits were usually gone soon enough. Not to mention he ran plenty of transactions for other people. He was like a train station, but for drugs. His profits on those were small, but they made for excellent status marks since his people never got caught and were always the most trustworthy.

Well, _almost _all of them.

Greed had quickly figured out that one of his oldest was the backstabber. Kimblee... That man had it coming now...

Greed, and most of the police force and higher didn't know it, but Kimblee had actually been undercover for the last six years, starting with Greed when he was just beginning to deal as a sixteen year old. Kimblee had been an undercover "cop-kid" as he'd been labeled, and was to snoop out druggers in the schools. He had broken off contact with the police force after a while, and had been thought to have turned 'bad' and ran with the druggies instead, predictably making him a top-priority catch. They didn't know that Kimblee had just deemed the contact too risky.

So, when he'd finally found the right time, he'd left subtly, and went to the NSF. Every major trader in the world as well as routes and transaction details amongst a pile of stuff was handed over. You could believe that most of the "higher-ups" in the government were pretty troubled now, even though they knew the information.

Greed was definitely a ring-leader in the drug business, and he was the first target that Japan's government (as well as the US's) wanted to catch. Greed knew this well, hence his stealing away to China and his many "hard-earned" dollars used to hide out and keep everyone involved quiet.

He didn't know what had become of Kimblee, but if the man didn't kill himself, Greed certainly would for him.

'In the most painful, mind-shreddingly torturous way I can come up with', He thought to himself viciously. He took the lit cigarette out of his mouth and pinched the end, putting it out. He threw it on the ground and continued to grin.

Putting aside his murderous thoughts of his once-trusted colleague, he stood up and rooted around the dingy place for one of his few bags.

One couldn't very well travel heavy when being hunted as harshly as he was.

Anyways, he found what he was looking for. After he'd looked through one big bag on the small bed, and another by the dusty desk, he'd located one thing precious enough to bring with him, wrapped in a plastic bag in a third bag by the door. He took the item and paced back across the room, taking it out of it's wrap and looking at it unnervingly lovingly.

The item was a cd, shiny as diamonds and about as interesting as garbage to anyone who looked at it. Anyone but Greed. He knew what was on this _particular_ cd.

He opened the disk drive of the computer in the room (at least he'd have **some** entertainment while holed up in this place) and popped the cd in. It was a very precious cd..

After playing around with it for a minute, the file opened and Greed sat back on the chair, which was actually very nice and new-looking despite the rest of the room (double that for the computer as well). He shifted until he was comfortable and lounged back, long-ago discarding his vest and now only in tight black pants and a blue muscle shirt.

He skipped the tracker point to some point in the middle of the video file, and the image of a person in the shower appeared. The angle suggested it was above the showering person, probably in the corner. This person looked very thin, androgynous.. with long green hair...

Greed sat back with a wide grin. _This_, always managed to cheer him up. If only Envy knew what Greed had caught him doing...

With movement as liquid as the water around him, Envy washed himself down with soap, completely unaware of the little white camera above him. He ran the bar close to his stomach, and stopped, seeming to think about something.

Greed felt himself harden as the soap was abandoned, and Envy began to pleasure himself out of pure impulse. Yes... this _always_ managed to make Greed feel better.. and all the more eager to **own**. He **would** own this boy, there was no stopping him.

Once he had his plans set, he was invincible. That is what he'd eventually led his followers to believe.

He wanted to accumulate fifty-billion dollars worth of drugs in Japan, then alert the authorities to cause the biggest uprising in drug history. It would have accusations flying, leads pointing in circles, chaos amuck..

Now, only he knew of these plans. But everyone followed him like the good little bitches they were.

You may be asking, "Why the **hell** would this guy want to do something so stupid!" The answer was simple; Greed was insane. Greed was one of those psychos who _knew_ they were insane, so he didn't have to trouble himself with pretending to have limits. He made sure that he had no limits.

Now, it wasn't his original goal as a drug-dealer, but that's how it turned out. In any case, he'd been fucked up by one damn person. Well, he'd pay, one way or another. There was always a next time.

Despite.

He smirked and ridded himself of the plaguing thoughts again. It would be months before he could come out of hiding, and he'd just have to settle with his tape clips for now. He rewinded the tracker of the video by a minute or two and unzipped his pants. Soon enough, both he and Envy were pumping to the same beat.

_You're my drug and you have no idea how addicted to you I am..._

* * *

Nine days later - Thursday - 7:14am - Elric House  
0-0-0-0-0  
(Oh.. The magical powers of Time Jumping!) 

It was peaceful and mostly quiet. The sun was trying it's best to rouse the sleepy teenagers within the Elric house, though two of three refused to be awakened by it. They managed to be able to sleep though the rustling and noises of the third teenager downstairs, though said teenager was trying to be loud to do the opposite.

Ed lay curled and content in Envy's arms, a small smile on his face. It was reflected in the older one holding him, though it would have been schooled into a smirk in no time had he been awake.

Al had been hesitant (and not to mention, embarrassed) when Ed had asked him if he was uncomfortable with he and Envy sharing his bed. Al was still in the stages of making opinions of their relationship, but he did not want to be a hindrance, or deny his brother whatever solace he found in staying close to Envy. He had made Ed promise they would 'behave', and Ed had told him it was not a problem.

At the time.

The more he stayed with Envy, and the more he was able to cope. After Greed's harsh violation of him, Envy's (worn, but still present) patience and obvious care for him was the most comforting thing he had. It didn't entirely make sense to him, but he definitely knew that he liked the feeling when Envy said he would protect him. He hadn't been able to before, but now, he said he would always be there.

Aww.

But in any case, a little more than a week ago, it had been easy to just curl up in Envy's arms and think of nothing but the security the strong limbs gave. Now, as Ed was well on his way to coming to terms with what had happened, it was harder to just stay in those arms and just _be_.

Envy had told him a few days ago that he wanted to take Ed, finally bond them for real, though Ed was still hesitant. He wanted Envy back.. but.. it was just too soon...

Again, that was a few days ago. He was feeling the desire as well, and he reminded himself that he wanted to move on. Now, now it was just a matter of time, he knew, before it was going to happen.

Ed shivered. He was awake now, he knew it, though he didn't open his eyes. He shifted a bit backwards, pressing himself even closer to the strong chest behind him. One thin arm was draped over his waist, fingertips brushing against the waistband of his shorts. It had been his request, though he felt silly about it. Envy would be delighted tonight if Ed were to tell them they could go 'full commando'.

Ed opened his eyes blearily, breathing in the strong scent of himself, and the weaker one of Envy. He raised a hand to rub his eyes, then shifted and turned himself around slowly under the light covers.

He was face to face with his sleeping boyfriend, and Ed took the time to study Envy's features. He didn't get to often, though when he did, it was always in the morning. He was always awake before Envy was anyways.

Ed heard Al call up to them from downstairs, but nothing made sense other than "late" and "school". Well, he probably could have screamed something about the Pythagorean theory, and "late" and "school" is still all Ed would have heard. Who needed an alarm when you had Al...

Ed decided that he'd stared at the unaware older male long enough, and he wrapped his arms best he could around him. Envy's face changed a bit, like he was waking up, so Ed pressed his lips to the other teen's as a sort of incentive.

"mmm..." Violet eyes opened slowly. Ed pulled away and grinned slightly. "I like waking to that.." The wild teen mumbled.

The two were quiet as they watched each other slowly awaken fully, but were interrupted rather viciously by a horrified scream.

Now, Al didn't scream often, but when he did, it was one to be reckoned with. Ed and Envy were flailing and tripping, trying to get out of bed, and the crashing downstairs wasn't helping them any in the panic department.

They rushed downstairs, Ed with a kitchen knife in his hands. He'd swiped it and hidden it under his bed for emergencies. Envy was ready with just his hands, rage seeping in to him at the gall Greed had to send someone despite his predicament.

"Alu! Hold on!" Ed yelled as he hit the bottom of the stairs, Envy right behind him. He ran the short distance to the kitchen and looked in, panic holding his features, and worry for his brother. He saw Al huddled in the corner of the room in his hair, holding a spatula up as a sort of weapon. His eyes darted around, wide and practically traumatized. Envy nearly crashed into Ed, his head turning in every direction, searching for an assailant.

"Alu! What happened! Why did you scream?" Ed asked quickly, rushing over to his terrified little brother. Al pointed to the top of the stove, and then a few other places. His breathing was heavy, and Ed tried to follow his brother's fingers to see what the trouble was.

Then he saw them.

Little black objects sparsely dotting the room.

"Niisan! We have _ants!_" Al screeched, lunging forward and smacking one on the counter with the handle of the spatula. Ed sweatdropped and looked down at his brother through narrowed eyes. He sweatdropped again on the realization that Envy probably just gave himself a concussion with the facefault he just pulled.

"Ants! You screamed like banshee because you saw some ANTS?" Envy squawked indignantly from the ground. Al blushed a bit, but was still jerking his gaze around spastically, peering at every little 'enemy' within his sacredly-clean kitchen.

"Ah... Alu, don't worry, we'll get them.. .just... Don't scare us like that." Ed muttered, scratching his head awkwardly. Al smacked another of the little insects and started ranting.

"You two go get ready while I finish breakfast. I'M, going to stay home and take this place apart. This kitchen will be so clean you could _eat off the floor_."

"When we have tables.." Envy mumbled and left the kitchen, leaving Ed alone to endure his brother's furious plans for the 'legion of ants'. One may wonder how Al planned on carrying out some of these plans, wheelchair in mind, though one couldn't ever underestimate a determined Elric. Especially not Al.

And so, Ed and Envy were booted to the upper level until breakfast. All the way up the stairs, bashing was heard as Al not only made breakfast, but began a vicious war against his unwelcome guests.

Ed reached the top first, and slid his hand along the wall as he made his way to his room. Envy was right behind him, letting his eyes wander all over the chibi's exposed body. Envy watched as Ed passed in through the open doorway, and adverted his eyes to the busted lock and handle area. Said handle was gone now, and only the rough hole and cracked area around the lock on the wall was left to show Envy's forceful entrance not too long ago. Ed had assured him that it was fine, but he still felt a little guilty anyways.

"Are you going into the shower first, or me?" Ed asked as he pulled back the bed covers. Best to let them breathe after every night, that's what Al had told him years ago. He did it out of habit now.

Not getting his answer, Ed looked over his shoulder to see Envy looking at him with a smirk, arms crossed. At first, Ed didn't quite get it, but then...

His eyes widened and his face brightened like a lamp. He turned around quickly and tried to oppose the unspoken offer, though... Embarrassment choked his words and inquiring thoughts fueled his embarrassment...

Envy came closer to Ed, backing the blond a step or two until he inevitably fell back on the bed. Envy put his arms out and placed them either side of his prey, looking down and smirking.

"What do ya say? It'll save water..." Envy trailed off playfully, though both knew very well he cared shit for the hydro bill. Ed looked away in embarrassment, but realized his mistake seconds after he'd moved. Gah... Whenever he looked so exposed Envy just had to...

Warm lips trailed down his neck, and Ed couldn't help but shiver. A hand was playing down his chest, but Ed placed his own hand over it and peered into Envy's questioning eyes.

".. We should go now... Or we'll be late.."

The older teen perked up significantly, grinning unabashed. He raised a hand to trail a finger across Ed's cheek, and said, "My! You'll finally let us shower together? You've made my day, chibi!" He chuckled at his own words and let Ed up, wrapping an arm around the shorter teen's shoulders and guiding them both out the door. Ed was blushing all the way.

* * *

(For the sake of detail, Ed had his stitches taken out two days ago, on the 25th (Oct). The slashes closed and healed rather nicely, though as expected, most of the deeper wounds would leave permanent scars. Ed has only had a few showers as of late, since he was stuck with spongebathing for the better part of the first three weeks since Greed attacked him.) (Also... The bathroom mirror still hasn't been fixed. XD) 

Towels out and ready to receive wet bodies, Ed started up the shower as Envy looked on, eager and anticipating the first time he'd get to be so intimate with Ed since that night a few days before the attack. He kept any negative thoughts locked away however, as he nor Ed by Ed's own wishes were to think about them. Not at times like this. There were times and places when the events were to be talked about, but when one was getting increasingly excited about something like a shared shower, angst had no front seat.

Ed was aware of the gaze on him and he was blushing madly. He was glad he was facing away from the older male. When he'd gotten the water to a nice temperature, he stepped back and looked at Envy, not wanting to initiate the activity by himself.

Envy chuckled, amused by the shyness. 'You're quite the cutie, Edo'. He stalked forward and wrapped his arms around Ed's waist, looking down at him square in the eye.

"Don't you know what comes next? This is where we undress..." He said playfully. Ed's breathing sped up a bit as Envy's hands headed down, fingers meeting fabric and slowly moving to take off the light shorts. Ed whimpered as the clothing hit the floor, but it was mostly in embarrassment when the loss of said clothing revealed him to be just as excited as Envy felt. Well well...

Ed managed to hold his own and repeated the favor for Envy, though a bit more hesitantly. When Envy's own shorts hit the floor, Ed's eye twitched, he swore it did.

He hadn't yet gotten a look at Envy's, well, you know. Truth be told, although he was not 'porn-star-sized' (thank GOD), he was big enough to have Ed blushing about where _that_ was supposed to go. A dark thought crept up on him in the back of his mind, but he shoved it away before it could manifest itself. He looked up at Envy just as the older male began to say something.

_"Don't worry.. Size may be daunting, but.. I love you."_ Ed's lightly nervous look turned slightly questioning. Whatever Envy had said, it wasn't in Japanese.

"I didn't know you spoke English." Ed said, straightening up. Envy chuckled and replied with, "I don't. I just know some phrases from some of Kei's shit. I'm surprised you can recognize English."

Ed shrugged and asked what he'd said. "Oh, I'll tell you some other time." He teased. Ed pouted and Envy laughed at him, mentioning that they really _would _be late if they didn't get a move-on.

So, now we're back to Ed being all shy and Envy infinitely amused by it. Ed finally got in the small stall, and quickly realized that it was **way** too small to be very comfortable with two people in it.

"That's fine chibi, we don't need miles of space." Envy said and got in as well. If they were both to pin their backs to opposite walls, there wouldn't be much space between them, since the shower was just a bit less than four by four feet going around. But of course, Envy would have no such thing as that sort of space between them anyways, he didn't want _any _space between them...

Immediately attacking the blonde's mouth, Envy ran his hands up and down Ed's sides. He didn't mean to be so, ferocious, but he couldn't help himself. He really needed to _feel _Ed right now, after so long..

Ed felt so electrified by the combined efforts of Envy and the powerful showerhead, he felt as if he could conduct electricity. Grinning to himself through the kiss, he had a particularly interesting follow-up to the feeling. 'Electricity, huh? Envy... I don't get to often, but this time, I'll be the one to shock _you_.'

Ed raised his arms and at first, it looked like he was going to wrap them around Envy's neck. But he had other plans. Circling instead around the taller male's shoulders, Ed brought them back down again, which guided Envy's arms down too.

Now holding Envy in a sort of captive embrace, he continued to grin as Envy shot him a strange look. He had no idea what the chibi was trying to achieve. Ed slid around and stood behind Envy instead, back almost right against the wall.

"Edo, you've really lost me now." Envy commented, though stayed still to see just what Ed was up to.

Using an arm to push the older male not-yet-water-conquered mane away, he stood up on the balls of his feet and slid his tongue languidly behind Envy's ear. This sent chills down Envy's spine, he certainly hadn't expected _that_. But oh, it was so not unwelcome...

Ed was grinning to himself with his little victory, but he looked up at the same time Envy turned his head and managed to see him out of the corner of his eye. Envy smirked, then growled seductively.

He turned around and raised his arms to place them either side of Ed, against the wall. The movement brought Ed's arms back up, resting on the taller male's shoulders.

"I guess it's true what they say.. It _is_ important to wash behind your ears.." Envy said saucily. Ed looked away, blushing. Envy moved around a bit, and Ed looked back to see what he was doing. Before he knew it, the taller teen was sliding a bar of soap down his arm.

"E-Envy.."

"Got to get you all cleaned up now, don't we?" He said, and slid the bar higher. Ed commented on how this had to be the strangest shower he'd ever had, and Envy replied with a sultry, "And most enjoyable, no?"

He couldn't argue with that.. Any shower he had now just by himself was going to seem almost lonely...

Envy busied himself with sliding the soap over Ed's muscled arm, and then made his way over his chest. He was very careful to be gentle, as the marks all over Ed's upper body were probably still sensitive. By now he was standing behind Ed, draped over him and running the soap over whatever part of the blond he could reach.

One may have thought that, stereotypically, Ed was soft-muscled and had a feminine body since he happened to be the 'recessive' half of a gay relationship (and Envy was going to make _damn sure_ he was the recessive half). They, however, would have been very wrong. As Envy stood there, cleaning his blond of whatever impurities he'd gotten overnight, he only then realized just how _tough_ Ed was all over. It was a little strange to say, but even though he didn't look overly-muscled, he still looked sort of buff in comparison to Envy's androgynous body.

"Ne.. Edo.. Do you work out?" He asked directly into Ed's ear. Ed turned his head slightly, nuzzling against Envy's cheek.

So affectionate..

"Yeah... I do every once in a while..." He trailed off. Envy noticed that his eyes were closed, and he decided that Ed must be _very _relaxed.

"Hmm.. You maintain it well. We should spar sometime." He chuckled. He'd probably be very more inclined to use pin-tactics against Ed were they to practice-fight than if he were to be sparring against someone else. Heh.

By now, Ed had noticed Envy's hair pinned flat against his body, and hadn't hesitated to point it out with humor. Envy had countered with running his hand (the one without the soap) through Ed's hair and commenting on how delicious he looked with his hair wet (or just plain wet, period). They were both thoroughly soaked, and Envy decided that he'd given Ed a long enough time to adjust to them together in the shower, and made his way downward with the soap.

Now, due to time restraints (unfortunately) Envy knew that it would be less than appreciated if he were to try and make this 'special' time go any further than an overly-intimate cleaning period.

'Though next time chibi... You won't be so lucky..' He thought to himself 'evilly'. Next time they were in a shower with _time_ to spare (preferably _his_, which allowed more.. movement..), his unexpecting little blond would be in for quite the treat...

It had been a little awkward with the lack of space to do Ed's legs for him (with a few _brushes_ _here and there _that were no accident), but it had been managed easily enough. Ed admitted to himself, though he didn't want to say it out loud, that he very much enjoyed Envy's company in the shower. It sure made it interesting...

When the older teen rose, he took a good look at Ed up-and-down and exclaimed a note of approval for his work. Ed smiled at the display and took the bar of soap from him.

"My turn." He said with a tiny edge of playfulness. Envy chuckled at the enthusiasm (goodness knows it was a great thing to see from him), and allowed the soap to be stolen from him, and hesitantly applied to his chest.

"I feel a little silly..." Ed admitted, "I can't just do this the way you did.." Envy snickered to himself and said in a teasing voice, "Nope... You're too short.."

In a completely surprising move, Ed flung his arms up an exploded in a yell.

**"I was just waiting for you to make a crack at my height! I _knew _it was coming!"**

Al looked up from his cooking pecan bacon and rose an eyebrow. He'd heard the shower start a few minutes ago, but Ed had just yelled at (assumably) Envy.. But wouldn't that mean..

Al's face brightened and he continued to tend the restaurant-worthy food with wide eyes. 'I shall not ask I shall not ask I shal-'

Envy stuck a pinky in his ear and looked away with an uncaring expression, showing his lack of being affected by the outburst. When he looked back, Ed was pouting at him, and he smirked. He moved forward and wrapped his arms around the younger teen's water-slickened shoulders.

"I never said being short was a bad thing.." He murmured the next part in Ed's ear, almost too soft to hear over the showerhead, "I much rather you short anyway.."

Ed snorted and returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around the teen in front of him, and Envy soon felt the soap being guided up and down his back. He chuckled and Ed smiled to himself, enjoying the vibrations that came from the sign of amusement.

When soaping up was finished, Ed got to experience first-hand the horrors Envy had to go through with his hair everyday.

* * *

The rest of the morning went smoothly enough, though Ed was _sure_ Al knew they'd showered together. He hadn't said anything, though when the two teens had entered the kitchen at Al's call, the younger teen had shot Ed one of **those** looks. It was just a slight cocking of the head with one eye closed, and over the years Ed had figured out that this was a sort of questioning glance that really didn't require an answer. 

Yes, it was a little odd, but what wasn't strange about the set-up here?

But in any case, a few well-placed 'thank-you's and Al was appeased for his work on breakfast. He'd announced a sort of war-dialogue before Ed and Envy left for school, and they both left the fired-up teen with sweatdrops and curious back-glances.

Whatever.

* * *

The first half of the school day had gone well for Ed, though poorly for Envy. He'd been massively volatile in Archer's class, and it seemed that the two harassed each other in class ever five minutes or so. By the time it was lunch period, Envy didn't even want to finish the day. 

"Oh come on, just because some teacher gets on your nerves doesn-"

Envy cut in to Ed's lecture by leaning on him heavily, making the younger teen squawk and try to catch his balance. "Mou... Just forget it. I'd have probably not finished today off anyways... I've managed to keep coming to school and _staying_ here the whole day for so long.. I need to skip a bit to keep my mental health.." He muttered. Ed mumbled about how Envy was just making excuses, then pushed the heavy male off him. Envy just slumped on to the table with his head on his arms.

"Just stick it through, school's not supposed to be fun and games.."

Immediately, Envy shot up and shouted, "I've got it!" He earned a couple stares from people at other tables, but instead of shouting at them cheekily, he faced Ed with an excited expression.

"Ne, ne, Edo, let's go to the amusement park!"

Ed felt his jaw drop. Amusement park! Where did that come from?

"Envy! We're in school! And you aren't allowed to go anywhere after school anyways." Ed countered. It wasn't like he didn't _want _to go, but he didn't want to get in trouble. And with the Police of all people.

"Aw, screw those damn cops' rules. They're not gonna care if we skip out. Know what? Here, I'll throw you a bone. We'll be back before school ends, okay? They won't even know we left." Envy argued enthusiastically. Now he was really psyched to go, though he'd only actually carry out the plan if Ed went with him. The blond looked very unsure and glanced at the cafeteria clock, which pointed at just a few minutes after 12. If they were to be back before school ended, that would give them roughly four hours. But there was still a bunch of hesitance stopping him from giving in quietly. There were so many cons, there was danger! What if they were caught sneaking out? What if he and Envy got into trouble!

He couldn't let Envy talk him into doing this!

* * *

"I can't believe I let you talk me into doing this." 

Envy grinned and walked out one of the many doors not located near the front of the school. Ed was glancing all over the place, he almost felt like a SWAT team was going to pop out any second and rant about them being under arrest. Silly, but he couldn't help but feel guilty.

"This'll be a hoot, it's going to be our first real _date_!" Envy said cheerfully, drawing out that last word. Ed snorted.

"You're a bad influence..."

"You're adorable."

Ed blushed and didn't reply, and Envy grinned at his new-found ability to shush his little boyfriend. Well, flattery gets you more than you thought it could...

"We'll stop by my house for some cash then take the bus there. Sound good?" Envy asked. Ed nodded and continued glancing around suspiciously. They wouldn't take Envy's bike to his house, instead, they 'snuck' out one of the non-main doors of the school and were going to walk away inconspicuously. If the two cops in the undercover car out front caught sight of them, they'd probably be sent right back in. So bus-and-foot it was.

And thus starts their 'runnaway' journey to the land of cotton-candy and rollercoasters. (Which, by the way, is having a 25 percent discount due to season-ending! Come now, save over 30 dollars! You can even bring your children in for half-price! Come now, before it's too late to enjoy th-)

Okay, enough of that.

* * *

**Cat:** Yes! Finally done!  
**Phoenix:** There is a noticeable lack of people here.  
**Cat:** That's true.. We are missing one fox and one cat...  
**Phoenix: **And ironically enough, we have one fox, and one cat here already.  
**Cat:** Haha, funny. I'm not a cat, I'm human.  
**Phoenix**: Please excuse my poor humor. (grins) 

(Kit and Seira come into the den. Kit is dressed in Ed's BBI dress with make-up and her hair done. All sorts of jewelry is donned.)

**Cat/Phoenix:** ... Woah..  
**Seira:** Well? (grinning) Does she clean up nice or does she clean up nice?  
**Kit:** I will kill you all...  
**Seira:** Oh don't say that you know you like it. (laughs)  
**Phoenix: **(cocks an ear back, then down. Kit blushes)  
**Cat:** .. You know... Someday I will learn Fox demon body language...  
**Seira:** Same.

Okay, excuse the hilarity caused by randomness, here's some notes:

**1. **Greed's connection to Envy hasn't been fully explored by any major authorities, nor would the said major authorities be all that concerned with the relation. Envy's protection is still being handled by the Central Police and it isn't exactly fool-proof protection. The police are making sure Envy gets to and from school/home safely, but they don't know his actions while actually **at** school/home, so his classes' attendance is not being monitored. Hey, you can only expect so much from the police, ne?  
**2. **I have discovered a new anime called "Kiba". I swear to Ra that the main character, Zed, is going to be the next Ed. Passing over the name similarity, they're very alike. Right down to the red coat and angst complex. Plus... They're both hot. XD (Even though the show is interesting and cool, and I fully intend to watch it, I will stand by my claim that so far it looks like Pokemon plus Sex Appeal. Know what, add a couple scoops of mind fuckery in there while we're at it, that crazy chick and the jellyfish was just plain freaky..)  
**3.** Though much discouragement and attempts, I am finally going to be launching an Envy/Ed/Pride!Ed website. Yes, of my own, yes, pay-monthly. I will love and cherish it. Hopefully, It'll be up and mostly under way by my next update. Hopefully.

* * *

Next Time, on Days of Our Lives; 

**Kit: **(headdesk)(headdesk)

Ahem, Sin High:

Chapter 21 - Upside-Down (Bouncing on the Ceiling)

(No.. Really..)

It's off to the Amusement Park! What fun and frolicking and happyfluffybunnies goodness can we expect of this? Not much, considering the terror Ed's gonna go through on the fastest coasters Envy can pick out.. Oh, fun fun fun! Don't puke Ed, that's not cool...

(Don't worry angst-lovers, I'm not forgetting about the downs of the story. Just… Ignoring it for a while. A long while XD.

* * *

Thank KatYoukai for the encouragement to do an Amusement Park chappie, I'm only doing it 'cause it was in the "to do or not to do?" pile, and she mentioned it. Whoot! And before anyone can ask, No. Greed does not crash the party next chapter. It's happy happy HAPPY DAMMIT next chapter. And fluffy. Fluffy like sweet cotton candy.. 

Mmm... Colored sugar...

Bai Bai!

R&R!

(PS - ... **NEXT CHAPPIE IS THE START OF THE HEALING ARCH! WHOOT!)  
****(PS2 - Thanks for 600 guys! You all rock!)**


	21. Upside Down

**Cat: I AM ONE FUCKING HAPPY KITTY.  
****Kit:** ... That was an interesting way to start the chapter...  
**Seira**: Roll the notes, "Kitty" needs a time-out...

**Cat Got:  
**Cotton Candy, A plushie of Ed with a fox tail and fox ears, The soap used in last chapter, Two apples (citric ACID! Wrapped in a _waxy, coating!_), Collection of pictures Envy got Hughes to take of Ed, And Bug spray(to kill the ants), "IT", "THAT" (for the muses), Easter chocolate, The Cadbury Easter Bunny, Cotton candy, Ultimate Ninja Wizards, Clip of Ed's hair (eats)(... what?), Greed's tooth (..?)(eats this too), chocolate bunny, Special Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (eats with hearts in eyes XD), Never-wilting Roses, set of Ed and Envy plushies, Toothpick (hair and teeth go flying..), Candy Floss (I updated! Gifties yay!), Glossy life o' sized poster of shirtless Ed, FMA bedsheets (are they Edo's bedsheets? I'll love them even more if they're Edo's bedsheets.. XD), Rewrite-singing Envy doll, Tape from a hidden camera in Envy/Ed's bedroom and a hologram projector that will show images of Envy and Ed in multiple positions, Chocolate, Wormie, The World, Ed and Envy plushies, Ice cream, Saturn (XD aww, but I wanted Uranus! XXDD (shot)) Bullet-proof pair of underwear for Ed (.. I'm a delivery-Cat now? EDO! Control your fans! They're making me deliver! I demand payment! (molests)), Life time supply of pocky and cookies, Roy Mustang plushie, Black Hayate plushie, Authentic State Alchemist's Watch, 2 Giant pinecones cosplaying as Thanksgiving turkeys, Stuffed owl statue that's missing an eye.

Notes:  
nonasuki-chan: Everyone was giving me ice cream 'cause I was whining about wanting ice cream at the end of chapter 19 XD. I didn't know anyone would actually pay attention to that, I was very pleasantly surprised! (Hugs reviewers)  
Livy: Lol, about the shower, you can't rush them, Ed's still healing! Thanks for the tattoo, and just for the sake of it, it's Ouroburos. Lastly... Yeah... We have ants too.. That's where I got the idea, even though it's fall in SH time.. XD  
ravemastaj: It's tiny, but don't forget that it can hold a wheelchair, and allow it to rotate. Yes, ear-twitch equals "You're Hot" is SO the new craze XDXDXD!  
Misery: I can't wait to see it! XD It'll pwn the box office!  
kiellne: Ack! I'm cliched! Nuuuuuu! (BTW, I don't mind a sketchy pic at all!)  
thoughless dreamer: I mentioned last chapter that I plan on making Sin High (at LEAST) 10 more chapters long, though that is the planned minimum. I honestly don't know how much longer it's going for, though I still have plenty of material to work with! (Though... I'm oh-so-eager to start on my other two fics.. It makes my choices very competitive..) XD TY for your compliments!  
psycho: Believe me, it's not dumb at all! I love hearing R&R on my older chapters! Brings me back... XD  
Hope Rising: I love your crack-reviews.. (XD) - From HR is a gift that couldn't be put in the "gift section." It's the gift of story! (btw, lol at "It tastes like failure!")  
_-"Once upon a time there was a man named Frank Archer who stayed inside for fear of being raped and became one hell of a pale motherfucker who spent his time screaming at people on War Craft and IRC. Well, one day Jesus came by and turned half of Frank's body into breast cancer and he became... FULL METAL ARCHER! Then he was busted for stealing music from Napster and was raped by Greed in jail and became his n00b bitch. The End!  
__Morale of the story: God hates history teachers with pointy eyebrows."  
_xXxchiixXx: Thanks for your review! I'm glad you think my story is good despite my (preferred) lack of a beta XD. There are mistakes, but if you didn't notice them, I can hope to assume not many others did either (whoot!). I agree with you that my story isn't all that original, though it's my first "real" fic (not those sad excuses posing as literature I had before), and really, it's the practice for my next two fics, both of which are half-high school fics. What's with me and AUs? Pffft... Thanks for your review, I enjoyed reading it! (Long reviews are love... XD)  
1. BEGIN THE HEALING ARCH! SEIG! SEIG! SEIG!

**Kit:** Not. _too_ bad.. For you at least...  
**Seira:** You don't even get to be compared to other authors anymore. No one has ANs as long as you do!  
**Cat:** Hey! I love my feedback, what can I say? I'm an attention whore..  
**Kit:** Is that what you call it..  
**Cat: **Wait a sec... **I'M SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY! I AM HAPPY! WANNA KNOW WHY?  
****Kit: **I think you blew 'em all away..  
**Seira:** Tell them after! Get to the chapter! I wanna see fluffy goodness!  
**Cat:** ... Fine... Nazi...

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 21 - Upside-Down (Bouncing on the Ceiling)

A-teens  
_Upside down!  
__Bouncing off the ceiling.  
__Inside out!  
__Stranger to this feeling.  
__Got no clue, what I should do,  
__But I'll go crazy if I can't get next to you!_

* * *

It was twenty minutes or so later when Envy and Ed finally made it to the wild-haired teen's house. They'd ended up taking the bus for a few minutes in the trip so as to cut the distance quicker. 

"This is my.. third time here?" Ed asked, making his way up the front steps. Envy cocked his head while picking out his hidden key and unlocking the door, saying that he didn't remember.

'It seems... creepy in here..' Ed thought to himself, glancing around at the house that was painted in his memory well. He could see a thin layer of dust coating objects and areas that were usually well-used, and a very thick layer of dust on the lesser-used objects and areas in the house, just because Envy never bothered to clean them anyways. He could hear Envy ranting about some thing or other as he explored his own house for the first time in weeks. Ed briefly wondered about why Envy still had his hidden key, wouldn't the police have taken it if they'd known about it?

Silly question. They didn't know about it.

'Envy.. You're really uncooperative..' Ed thought to himself. He went into the living room and sat down on the couch that had once held him and Envy in deep slumber. After this whole 'Greed' ordeal was over, or, at least when Envy was released from full-time surveillance (and after-school 'grounding'), maybe they could once again curl up and enjoy themselves as they once had. Ed looked down at the floor with a small blush at his own wishful eagerness.

Envy came stomping down the stairs, loudly throwing around complaints about damages or general mess that the police had caused during investigations in his house. Especially the mess in the areas where cameras and bugs had been pulled.

"Envy, your house is always messy." Ed reprimanded from the couch, half-turned so he could see the grumbling teen. Envy rested his hands on his hips and replied absent-mindedly as he surveyed the living room and kitchen.

"Yeah, but at least it's MY mess. Those fuckups at the station weren't careful at all. It'll take me forever to get all this moderately-nice again.."

Ed sweatdropped and said Envy should cut his theatrics. All he got was a snort, but Envy didn't argue. He was a drama-queen and he knew it.

Ed got up off the couch and went into the kitchen to get himself a drink. He wondered if Envy wanted one, and voiced the question. Envy didn't reply at first, but did eventually after coming into the kitchen himself.

"Yeah... Let's hope those bastards didn't screw up my cups..." He growled half-heartedly.

Settled with their respective drinks, both teens lounged at the kitchen table. Ed fiddled with a pen with the hand not holding his glass of cold water.

"Ne.. Edo..." Envy said. Ed paused mid-sip as Envy's grin grew. Well, _he_ got over the police-intrusion fast..

"I hope you scream on the coasters. It'll be interesting to get a preview of how loud your voice _really_ goes." He murmured silkily. Ed sputtered in his cup just slightly, but adverted his eyes, trying to hide his blush with his cup. Envy reached out and took Ed's hand, making him drop the pen. He traced the lines and contours of Ed's hand with his thumb, his gaze surprisingly adoring. Ed followed the caressing motions with his eyes, gently sipping at his water.

The silence drifted along the scene for a moment, leaving the two teens to their thoughts.

Until Envy jumped up, not being able to take the stillness anymore.

"Well! Let's get moving, we don't have that much time, koi!"

A small wardrobe switch on Envy's part and a fist-full of bills was all it took to get the atmosphere happy and chipper again. As happy and chipper as Ed felt.

"Thank god for you, Envy.."

* * *

(Koi equals "Love" or short for "Lover", remember?) 

The bus ride to the amusement park had been a great deal more interesting, though unwelcome, then the ride to Envy's house. Some sleazy girl had been hitting on Ed while Envy was arguing with the bus driver (... sweatdrop), and eventually, Ed had started mouthing off and getting rather pissy at her drug-induced attempts to make out with him right then and there. Eventually, Envy got in on it too and all three were kicked off the bus.

Luckily, they were only down the street from the park, so they didn't have far to go.

Ed wrapped his light jacket around him a little more insistently as a small breeze picked up. The blond was only wearing a red t-shirt with faded jeans, and he was glad he'd thought to bring the black jacket with him that morning. Envy was a little more prepared, with thick black pants of an unknown material and a startlingly-green shirt with long sleeves. He also had his backpack (now emptied) to keep any souvenirs in.

"It's going to be pretty cold with the wind on the coasters Envy.." Ed said, though he was happy enough to go anyways. A little cold never hurt anyone. Envy leaned in and wrapped an arm around Ed's shoulders, making him blush lightly.

"You'll be too preoccupied, don't worry about it." He said with a grin. Hmm... Maybe Ed was sensitive to cold.. He'd have to test the theory with ice cubes later on..

Envy strode up with all the confidence he usually held right to the only entry booth open, where a bored-looking high school girl was watching them approach with complete absence of enthusiasm. Well, with the uniform she was wearing, one had no reason to be in high spirits in the first place.

"Two." Envy said cheekily, putting a tone of mockery in his voice for the poor girl's predicament. Must be fun to sell tickets when there was nearly NO people wanting to come so late in the season. Ed lightly shoved him and gave him a disapproving look.

The girl rolled her eyes and drawled out in a voice that spoke volumes itself on how many times she must have said the lines; "Two adults, that will be six dollars each. Twenty five-percent discounts for season-ending, tell all your friends about it.. blah blah.." She trailed off, not even wanting to finish her monologue since she had no doubt in her mind that the two boys would be telling absolutely no one to come.

Envy used his free hand to go and fish out his money, removing the arm around Ed's shoulders so as not to jostle him awkwardly. The girl raised her eyebrows at Ed, who looked away and didn't meet her gaze, blushing still.

"What, are you two going to try and say you want the couple's discount?" She drawled, not amused. Been there, tried that..

"Huh?" Envy looked surprised and glanced at the price sign that the girl had probably read over three million times a day. Indeed, there was a little blue line preaching "Couples get in for the price of One!" there. Envy grinned and poked Ed in the arm playfully.

"Ne! This is going to be the cheapest I've ever paid to get in here!" He cackled, amused by his little partner's embarrassment. So shy.. How cute.

"Nice try buster, but you're not the first pair of guys trying to get in cheap. Prove that you two are a couple." She drawled. Envy shrugged with a grin and turned on Ed.

"Ah! Uh.." Ed was suddenly wrapped up in Envy's strong arms and gazing up into the wild teen's viciously violet eyes. Ed could practically _feel_ the grin, and he pouted at the situation. Envy wasn't even questioning the girl's defiance, and he was the kind of guy who didn't tolerate defiance. **He** was the one who did the defying. But here, he'd rounded on Ed faster than a blink at the slightest suggestion.

"Six bucks for two people sounds pretty sweet Koi.." Envy purred. Ed felt his eyes flatten, he and Envy both knew he had more than enough money to not give a flying shit about a few extra dollars. But... whatever...

He felt warm lips press against his own, and as he lifted his hands to rest his fingertips on Envy's waist, it suddenly didn't seem so cool out. Envy's tongue slipped in his mouth at some point during his musings, but he remembered that they happened to have an audience, and much preferred to **not** do this in front of them.

"I think this is enough to convince her.." Ed whispered, but he too found himself sucking on Envy's lower lip. A small whine emanated from the taller teen's throat, and Ed couldn't help but grin to himself. "I'll be your irresistible blondie another time, okay?"

Envy snickered, but left it at that and shot the entry-booth girl a smug look. She rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed, and rung up "CPLs DIS" on the fee screen, which changed from twelve to six dollars. Envy handed over the money and got some change in return, and soon enough they were going past the small gates with a pink stamp on both their right hands.

* * *

Envy had immediately wanted to go for the rides, but Ed had managed to argue him into playing some games first. Envy had given up with a joyful, "Eh, why not. It's more fun anyways when you travel with fuckloads of toys that all the surrounding kids can't have!" 

Ed gripped a dark-colored, heavy iron ball. It was his weapon, his tool. The only way to win some assortment of prizes, but even more alluring, to win victory over his boyfriend in a competitive show of skill. He glanced over at Envy, who smirked at him and seemed to be judging his set up.

The object of the game was simple. Throw the iron ball in the basket. The complication was: It was damn hard.

The basket was angled so that unless the ball was thrown _perfectly_, it would roll right back out.

Ed glanced at Envy once again, who looked ready to take his shot. The game-keeper looked very amused by their drama.

Arm back, then forward, and the twice-your-fist-sized ball sailed through the air, smacked the back of the basket, rolled up, up, and out. Envy facefaulted and Ed laughed at him for the miss, getting his two cents in while he could.

"It's all about the back-spin, Envy." Ed said smugly. He threw the ball palm-down, snapping his wrist at the last moment and using his fingers to guide the ball into spinning backwards, while sailing forwards. Envy and the keeper were silent when the ball hit the inside of the basket, kind of spazzed on the spot, then...

Rolled right out.

Facefault.

Amidst Envy's laughter, Ed took the last ball and threw it, using the same technique, but softer, more precise. The ball sunk in the basket and stayed, but Envy kept right on laughing.

"Thank you." Ed said as he received a small walrus as a prize. He studied it's bright yellow sheen of fur, and the big button eyes, the little stick or cane stitched to it's flipper, then whacked Envy over the head with it.

"Aw, don't punish me 'cause you sucked on the drama-throw!" He said, cackling in mirth as they walked away from the stand. Ed made as if to whack him again, but Envy stole the stuffed animal before he got a chance to.

"Heh, some prize. Let's look for a target game, I have pretty mean aim with those things." Envy said as he shoved the walrus in his backpack ungracefully. Ed smirked to himself at the thought of Envy prancing around with an armload of plushies. Good thing for the older teen that he'd brought his bag.

Ed scanned the long stretch of carnival-like booths, and finally noticed a balloon stand, you know, those easy ones where you throw darts. The ones that seem easy until you pay the money only to realize said balloons are barely filled with air and take a superman throw to actually pop. Yeah, those ones.

Envy was all confident when he strode up to the stand, after Ed pointed it out, and he paid for a single round of darts.

"Watch and Learn, Edo, this is how you do penetration right..." He said, practically grinning his face off as Ed nearly blushed fire. The guy managing the stand quirked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. He wasn't there to judge, he was just there to provide entertainment.

Envy closed his left eye and aimed with his right hand, pulling it back, dart poised, and threw it with vicious force. A small, hissing sort of pop sounded as a purple balloon bit the dust and died. (gravestone.)

"Wow, you really know how to throw those." The man said, scratching at his bald head. He was a nice man, but he still used the regular old tricks to make his profit. But this kid could really throw...

"I sure do.." Envy said under his breath, concentrating on his next target. Ooh.. That yellow one was too cheery...

Psspop. The second balloon went down. (gravestone.) Ed widened his eyes, since he'd never been all that good at this game. He never threw the darts hard enough even though he usually hit his mark.

"Alright, this makes or breaks it." Envy said, voice thick with a competitive edge. There were five darts to try and pop three balloons, but apparently, taking more than three darts was a loss to Envy. Hey, whatever floats his boat.

Ed glanced away from the concentrating teen, who was stealthily picking his next target, to look around at the carnival-type part of the amusement park.

There wasn't a whole lot of people, Ed would have been surprised if there were more than thirty milling about in the games area, though it _was_ season-ending, and barely anyone ever went to those. Ed was a little sad to see the summer go, but he was rather fond of winter sports, so he wasn't **too** disappointed.

He turned just in time to see Envy throw the last dart at a green balloon up near the top.

(gravestone.)

"Ha! Good job there, son. Here you go." The man said jovially. He handed over a cute little panda, and Envy accepted it with a sly smirk.

"Look koi! I got you a bear!" He chirped, high off his own victory. Ed gave him an unimpressed look and replied with a dry,

"You now receive a cookie." Envy's expression lost some of it's joy, then it was back, full-tilt, but with a side-order of slyness.

"I don't want a cookie, I want a kiss." He snatched the chibi teen up in his arms and kissed him harshly, earning two quirked eyebrows from the booth-man, a couple glances from passer-byers, and a good lot of muffled noises from his prey.

"Ga! You can't kiss me every time you win a prize!" He hissed, and pushed Envy back, blushing and glaring defiantly at people whose gazes lingered too long.

Envy wheeled around and started mentally tallying up the best targets to aim for next. "I sure can, and considering my aim, you're in for a lot of smooching."

Envy was literally dragged from the booth.

* * *

When the two teens had tired of playing games, Ed had suggested that they have something light to snack on before hitting the rides. It probably wasn't the best thing to eat before going on rides, but you can't expect too much of teens these days. 

Now sitting in the sun near a tree (they preferred to be out of the shade), they stretched out over the cool grass. There was no more light breeze, and the temperature had gone up since the sun had lost it's meager bit of cloudcover.

"What are you doing?" Ed asked, enjoying a small ice cream and Envy juggled his own while trying to open his bag. It was shoved full of all sorts of things, and the zipper had caught with the fur of some unidentified animal.

"Here, hold this. I want to see what we got.." Envy said, shoving the cone at Ed. The blonde took the ice cream cone with a sigh, and wondered if the older teen's hyper-ish sort of attitude as of late could be traced back to some criminal cup of coffee or something.

Ed leaned back against the trunk of the tree and looked around happily. He was feeling rather light-headed despite his calm demeanor. This was.. in all honesty, his first date. He turned his head to look at Envy, squinting just a bit as the sunlight hit him a bit stronger. Envy was sitting cross-legged, sifting through the pile of animals and toys and such, claiming only the edible prizes to be well-received.

'It's so strange..' Ed thought to himself. They were all mixed up. They had agreed to try for a life-long relationship (and at their age too..), before even really learning about one another. Ed still didn't know a whole lot about Envy, just bits and pieces.

Envy claimed the panda he'd won earlier and was saying something in a critical voice, raising it high in those well-known tones of skepticism or criticism that Ed knew so well. He didn't hear listen to the words though, he was too wrapped up in his thoughts. Was their commitment to each other done too rashly?

It was true that Ed felt, _right_ somehow, being with Envy. Though why was that? Why could he feel so attached to someone he didn't really know?

'You can hate someone pretty easily without knowing them... So why not for love as well?'

Ed smirked at his uncharacteristically vague thought. He was a person of science, and yet, he was still in a completely illogical relationship. Didn't make sense.

Envy looked over at him after it seemed he'd finished whatever monologue he'd been saying about the panda, and caught Ed staring at him, lost in thought. He cocked his head to the side and stared back, a small grin on his face. Ooh, like taking candy from a baby...

Or kisses from a chibi..

Envy shifted over and once again caught the blonde up in a kiss. It took him completely off guard and before he was even completely out of his musings, he found himself pinned to the tough bark of the tree, with a ravenous Envy sucking and nipping at his lips like they were as sweet as his ice cream cone (which now lay rejected on the ground).

Envy pulled back to see the delicious picture of Ed staring back up at him, panting a bit and flushed from the force.

"Mommy! Mommy! What are they doing?"

"Never mind them dear, let's keep going."

Ed's eyes darted over to a little girl who was being pulled away from the picnic area by her worried-looking mother, who was shooting them nervous glances. Ed flushed even brighter at how Envy was leaning over his smaller form, obvious in his intentions. It was also obvious that they were both guys, which probably bothered the mother more than Envy's raging lack of shame.

"Envy, not here... People keep looking.." Ed murmured, putting a hand on Envy's chest as a small "back off" signal. Envy look disheartened and muttered in his childish way. "Mou, you're taunting me koi.."

Ed sighed and pulled up his legs to cross them, sending the pouting older youth a disapproving look.

"You're taunting yourself. Just try to contain your.. uh, mouth. There's plenty of time for... this.. when .. no one's..." He trailed off, blushing at his own train of thought, and topic of talk. He wasn't as shameless as Envy, and casually speaking about sex, especially when it involved **him** was not something he'd ever bothered to master.

Envy cocked his head to the side and lay down on the cool grass. He poked at Ed's shoe as a way to amuse himself, then, to Ed's immediate suspicion, he grinned widely.

"What are _you_ so gleeful about?" Ed muttered, though he knew that it couldn't be any sort of wholesome thought. Envy looked up at him and murmured in a seductive tone;

"You're on my mind, and I can't let it go. So let's remedy this with a trip to a _special place_..." He said in a vague, accented tone. Ed raised an eyebrow at the tone and when the meaning of the words kicked in, he asked uncertainly, "What, _special place_?"

Envy propped himself back up and let his head loll to the side so he was seeing Ed on an angle.

"Let's go on the _looove cruise_..." He slurred, grinning magnificently.

"Since when were you so mushy?" Ed commented, a hint of skepticism.

"I'm not," Envy snickered. "But it's probably the only place in here where you'd let me make out with you."

'Knew it..' Ed sweatdropped. But.. It _would_ be a new experience.. new places and events and all that.. (dramatic sweatdrop)

Envy's grin widened when Ed seemed to be thinking about it. No immediate response was pretty much an affirmative in his eyes, and he leapt up, ready to find the "romantic" little canoe ride that he'd heard the girls as school gush about enough. Anyone could have told you he'd never been on it before, and he probably wouldn't remember much about the impending ride in the future. He didn't plan on looking at the scenery.

Ed groaned a bit when Envy nudged him and acted a little bit more enthusiastic than he should have been allowed, but he couldn't lie to himself that the idea of a nice, 'romantic', _alone_ ride with the wild teen was exciting.

It took a solid ten minutes to find the ride, and Ed saw that it was actually a rather nice-looking little trip.

The "cruise" was a wide, nearly square canoe-type boat that was built for two, and built to be able to stand an admirable amount of moving in it (The ride architects were pretty knowledgeable). It would drift slowly through a small stream that looped around the eastern half of the park's outskirts, and came back. On one side of the boat would be the far-off image of the rest of the amusement park, and the other; groves, walls with vines creeping up them, maybe a small forest. Sometimes they were incased in the man-made scenery so the park was not visible at all. Seemed like quite the journey.

And Envy had a total of ten minutes to sufficiently make out.

"Boat for two?" A man in his apparent later thirties asked at the cruise gate. He had a slightly off-normal expression, but he'd had his fair share of gay couples, and it didn't really bother him anymore.

"Unless there's someone else here wanting to join us, then yeah, boat for two." Envy said dryly. Ed gave him a nudge, and Envy nudged him right back, keeping the mean smirk on his face for the ride tender. The guy shrugged and allowed them on for the three dollar fee (it isn't a normal ride, so tickets aren't used for entry. Good thing, since neither teen bought any tickets yet XD).

"Now Edo, don't get too excited and tip the boat over.." Envy teased as they gently drifted away from the shore. The boat was actually fastened by a rope running from the front and back so it run by it's self. The ropes were light brown however to blend in with the sandy bottom.

"If anyone's going to get excited, it's going to be you.." Ed said lowly, but kept flicking his eyes away in nervousness. He hoped his comment didn't sound like a challenge of any sort, because if it did..

"Is that so? I think you're underestimating me, koi.." Envy leaned over from his close seat opposite to Ed and tangled one hand in the blonde's hair, and set the other to fasten possessively over Ed's right wrist. Instead of attacking Ed's lips this time though, he surprised the blond by nibbling along his jaw line.

'Envy... You have no idea how.. good that feels... Or do you?' Ed heard himself think in a daze. His thoughts, that guiding mental voice he knew so well just seemed to melt after that, leaving nothing but a jumbled mess of values and passions behind.

At some point, Ed had either sunk down past the seat and into the foot area, or Envy had pulled him there. The ledge where one's legs hung over was rather oddly rounded, making one wonder if said foot area was purposely intended to fit someone leaning against it.

Ed's arms were being held back, pinned flat where he'd only just a minute ago been sitting, and he was currently being ravaged by a hungry, harsh set of lips long-denied their goal.

"Envy.. a.. Can you m-mark me.. there?" Ed asked breathlessly. Envy grinned sexily at him, and looked him in the eyes. His sharp teeth flashed in the strong sunlight filtering through the trees, and he said in barely over a whisper;

"I'll mark you when I have you... Completely."

Envy smirked, though not in his usual mocking way. It was more of a promising sort of _playful_ tug at the lips. He had figured out by now that Ed really liked the constant reminder, the small bit of pain there to show him who was _really_ watching over him.

_'never again will you be hurt.. never again..'_

Envy kept an even gaze with his blond, but neither of them spoke. Ed eventually wrapped his arms around Envy's waist and leaned into him, resting his head against the solid chest. Envy lay his chin on Ed's head and kept a rather neutral expression.

"And here I thought I was going to get some action..." He murmured, shamelessly gambling the moment. Ed shifted slightly until he was comfortable; laying his legs over Envy's folded ones and wrapping them around.

"...tonight..." He murmured. Envy tilted his head to the side, retaining his smirk. Violet eyes flashed. He'd have the patience.

"... we can tonight..." He murmured again. Envy breathed in deep the scent of his lover's hair and murmured back, "Alright. I can wait. Probably better than this rickety little boat anyways."

"..you can give me the mark.." Violet eyes widened. Oh. _Ohh.. Is that what he meant.._ Ed was going to finally let him complete their bond..

"What about your brother?" Envy asked. How far had Ed thought _this_ little plan through, perchance?

"We can go down by the creek. I know this little cove.. It has a willow tree over it. I found it not long after moving here." Ed wasn't looking at him, but staring at Envy's shirt as if it was a sort of lifeline. Envy seriously hoped Ed didn't feel like backing out later, it would make him pull his hair out in frustration.

"It'll be cool out..." He sang lowly, now playing with the decision. He saw Ed smile, though he was still fixated on Envy's green shirt.

"You'll keep me warm, won't you?"

"I sure will..."

* * *

We leave the sweet, quiet scene of trees, boats and lovers to one of speed, steel, and violent screams. No, it's not an S&M room, it's a roller coaster ride. 

"Whhhooooooaaaaaaaaaaahhhhaaahaahhaa!" Envy yelled out, arms up and waving free to get the full intensity of the velocity they were moving at. He yelled something to Ed about putting his arms up, but it was lost on the roar of steel training against steel. Envy's laugh was also lost to the wind when he saw Ed was scrunched up in his seat, his face screwed up, loving yet hating the feel of gravity pulling his stomach in every direction.

The coaster slowed down finally, pulling forward slowly in a horizontal track. Ed opened his eyes with some difficulty and glanced at Envy with a sheepish expression.

"Is it over yet... I'm going to hurl.." He said. He moved to sit up, ready to get out the second the train stopped it's crawling and then finally _stopped._ Envy grinned widely and mentioned off-handedly, "Better not look down koi.."

Ed's face paled, and he barely had time to register that the ride was not stopping. It was only readying to go down a near-vertical drop from literally the second-highest point in the whole park.

Ed had been pretty good so far on the few rides Envy had chosen, at the most trying to squish himself out of existence into his chair. But this time, well.. He screeched like the little chibi he was.

-0-

A rush of different directions and invisible forces hit him, and he was aware of the _hellborne contraption_ he was strapped to stopping at last. Ed practically ripped the safety gear off and flung himself out of the ride, turning back around and pointing a shaking finger at it like a madman.

"That could not have been healthy! That was, that was-"

Envy slid up behind him, trailing his hands down Ed's sides. He purred in the blonde's ear with a lustful edge in it..

"That was terrifying? Exciting? Just as tonight will be.." Ed felt his face burn again, and cursed himself for being so easily flustered. Damn, only Envy could make him blush so easily.. It wasn't fair, sooner or later the older teen was going to use that against him.

"That's all you're going to be able to think about now, isn't it." Ed muttered suspiciously. Envy purred a long, drawn-out "_yeeeessssss"_ into his ear. It was amazing how tremors in one's stomach turned into continental drifting when one is in love. Is this what it means to be wanted...

"Umm.. ano.. Let's go.. people are staring.."

"Don't be so self-conscious, let them stare.."

"Envy... later..."

Ed couldn't help a _masculine_ sort of giggle when Envy pure-out whined, letting go of him very unwillingly. He shook his head at the childish antics and went to collect Envy's bag. Crossing to the bench that held a small amount of bags and items, he quickly located the one he was searching for since there wasn't much stuff to begin with.

In the end, Ed didn't have much luck with the other rides he was going to be _forced_ to go on.

* * *

"I'm still dizzy from that last one..." Ed mumbled. He had his arms fastened tightly around his stomach. He and Envy were sitting on the bus, taking the journey back to the school.. in stealth. They were still trying to get back without getting caught. 

Ed looked around after a moment, finally catching some lady in her forties with a watch, and asked her for the time.

"It's just about four o'clock." She answered with a smile. Ed thanked her and turned to Envy.

"Seems like we were cutting it close." Envy snorted. "Aww, we have plenty of time." He looked at Ed slyly, immediately making him dread whatever was about to come out of his mouth.

"Since we still got until quarter-after.. Let's make out when we get there. Ne?" For the next minute and a half, there was an intense staring contest between the two. Ed with a flat look and Envy with an 'innocent' one.

"No."

* * *

No one had really noticed the two teens were gone ('cept the attendance record), and they ended up just hanging around their lockers for the last few minutes. Ed refused to leave early; he wanted to leave at the same time as everyone else did, so they weren't suspicious at all to the watching police guards. 

Of course, since they were alone, Ed didn't have any sort of "people are staring!' excuse to throw Envy off with. So you can imagine that the few minutes were not wasted.

"Envy.. w-"

"It isn't a big deal koi-_chan_.."

Envy slipped his fingers in the rim of Ed's pants, trailing them on the inside and following the circular top. His mouth was busy with Ed's neck, and the blond has his eyes shut, trying to quell the supposed storm-on-the-sea that had started in his stomach. How was it possible for something as simple as _lips_ to make so many sensations, and so pleasurable at the same time?

Ed was being pressed rather forcefully into the lockers, he would have complained, but he couldn't put anything into words. _Envy.. I didn't know you could make me feel like this.._

The smallest noise of pleasure managed to make it from his throat, and it was as if a predatory instinct had make it's may into Envy's mindframe...

_Ed you have no idea how much I need you... I've waited a long time for you to heal.. And now, I think you're ready.. More importantly... **You **think you're ready too..._

Envy smirked at Ed squirmed against the lockers. He'd slipped his hands up the back of his shirt and was probably tickling the blond without realizing. Ed was pretty much crushing against his arm though, so they were even. _Mmm.. crushing is a good word right now.. koi..._

Envy locked gazed with Ed and refused to let him look away. It wasn't a spoken, or even physically-enforced order.. It was a mental sort of thing. _Don't you look away.. face me head on.._

Sharp teeth were bared in a small grin, and-

-The bell rung.

Envy slumped and lay his head against Ed's chest, defeated. He just couldn't win. Class doors opened from various places in the hall, and students were beginning to file out.

Ed smiled and felt a little sorry for the older teen. He was actually doing an admirable job of holding back, despite the frequent urges. He blushed at the thought that Envy cared for him so much as to be so careful with him... Even considering his brash nature.

He placed his hands on Envy's slumped shoulders and pushed him of gently, catching him in a kiss as the older teen looked up at him. He received a grin, and he couldn't help but feel a little better.

Ed spun on the spot and fiddled with his lock while Envy was still close. "I'm going to have a hard time waiting for nightfall."

Ed rummaged through some papers at the top while Envy leaned his right arm on the door, pretty much pressed up against Ed's back. Ed turned his head a bit to answer with a, "I'm sure you will." Envy looked a little surprised at the response, and leaned on the chibi further.

"Are you okay with this? That sounded cold somehow."

When Ed turned after gathering the chosen papers, he was blushing redder than the school's side door. And the rumor was.. it was painted with blood.

Envy sighed a mental breath of relief. Ed was just nervous. Ed confirmed Envy's thoughts a few seconds later, and he couldn't help but smirk evilly to himself as they made their way to the front door two floors down.

_'You think you're nervous now koi.. wait until tonight..'_

* * *

"Alu! We're home!" Ed called when he walked through the door. While he was slipping off his shoes, Al called back an enthusiastic "Welcome home, Niisan!". Envy came through the door a second later. 

"Hey chibi! What's the daily total so far!"

"Two hundred and thirty seven!"

Envy was silent and Ed's eye twitched. He'd forgotten that Al had discovered ants in the kitchen, and had been waging battle with them all day. The second he stepped out of the hallway, all he could smell was bleach and other cleaning products.

Dragging backpacks, the two teens traveled to the kitchen to find furniture moved, cupboards open, brooms, rags, cleaning supplies, bottles, buckets of water.. The kitchen was a total calamity.

".. Having fun I see?"

Al chuckled a little at Envy's joke, but he didn't reply. He leaned back in his chair and took a good look around at the pure-clean kitchen (that in honestly, only needed some tidying up now).

"Alu, how did you get all that stuff in the cupboards down..?" Ed asked, seeing pretty much everything from the cupboards now collected on the table (and plenty of things zipped in clear-plastic bags). Al rubbed his pruned hands together and mumbled in a rather intimidating voice;

"Don't question it... I did everything possible to make sure I could get it clean in here..." A dark sort of cloud-o'-doom seemed to hover over the conspiring teen, and he started mumbling about getting the kitchen tidied up, then moving on to any other place in the house that may contain ant-favored places.

"Now... Out of the kitchen please.. I need to finish... Finish THEM."

Someone's been sniffing the bleach a little too long..

* * *

There was no breeze.. 

There was no light...

There was no sound... Until now..

"Ne.. Ne Edo-"

"-Think your brother is asleep yet?"

"Envy, it isn't even ten o'clock yet.."

"So?"

"So, I think he'd still be up."

"... you're stalling.. aren't you?"

"Damn right."

"Let's go koi... Before I crack and screw you into the bedsprings."

"Nicely worded, Shakespeare."

"Who?"

"Never mind."

(silence)

"I'm getting hard."

"Okay, okay! Let's go.. Just... ah.. what the hell did I get myself into.."

"Night of Fire, Edo, Night of Fire."

* * *

**Cat:** ... HA! You guys thought I was gonna have the lemon in this chapter, didn't ya! SUCKERS! **MWUAHAHAHAHA!  
****Kit: **You're going to get mauled...  
**Seira:** THAT'S NOT FAIR! WE DON'T GET TO SEE IT?  
**Cat: **You sure as hell do... Next chapter! XXDD  
**Kit:** Your first serious lemon...  
**Seira:** The cake one-shot didn't count?  
**Cat:** Fuck no. 

Random Stuff: (moo)  
1. This fic.. and.. my next two are all high school or half-high school fics... Do I have a school fetish? That's weird.. I hate school...  
2. Ed is soooo uke in this fic..  
3. I just saw the FF Advent Children movie.. I think I'm in love with CloudxKadaji even though I know shit about the game...(s)... XD - Yaoi-gal 'till the end!  
4. **AFTER TWO MONTHS OF WORK... I FINALLY GOT MY WEBSITE. HAIL TO MEEEEEE! ENVY X ED WITH PRIDE IN BETWEEN!  
****_www(dot)expxe(dot)com_** - See the love in _action..._

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 22 - Night of Fire

Niko  
Speak my name now, speak if it you know how,  
Fly to me, get ready for the;  
Night of Fire!

* * *

I discovered at some point through this chapter, that my bunny likes crackers... 

Wh_aaaa_t?


	22. Night of Fire

_**PORN.**_

Now that I have your attention...  
_**www(dot)expxe(dot)com  
**_Check out my Envy/Pride/Edo site, it's new, and HOT. XD

* * *

**This chapter has been edited and cleaned up. Because I damn-well felt like it.**

* * *

**Cat:** Yo Minna!  
**Kit:** Porn? That's the best you could come up with?  
**Cat: **... _Flashbang! _(disappears)  
**Seira:** **... She's NOT a ninja!  
****Cat: **(far away) She is too!  
**Kit:** .. What are you two talking about...  
**Seira:** Cat's idolizing some chick from Bleach, and we've been arguing over whether or not she's a ninja.  
**Kit: **I don't know you. 

**Cat Got:  
**10 dollars, Maxwell-Yamoto's soul, Giant yellow walrus plushie, 2 summer pin-wheel things (one that looks like Edo and one that looks like Envy), Wide-screen plasma T.V. (Wh00t! I can watch all the stuff you guys have been giving me on WIDESCREEN! (pops in shower vid)), All The Universe, Al plushie with his head and legs chopped off ((splutter) WTF! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!), Ice cream, The Sexy Cake from my one-shot, Two plushies of Envy and Ed holding hands, Catnip, Cookies for the muses, Chocolate for everyone, A white shirt with a black kitty on it for Cat, and a black shirt with a white kitty on it for Kit, Chocolate, Everlasting roses, Crackers, the cute lil panda Envy won, Ed's bath towel, 89 inch screen TV (Oh, I love these TVs... Ironic though how I don't actually watch TV in real life.. XD), DDR, A hug (XD (hugs back)), Ed's hairbrush (eats hair), Bagged Ed/Envy, (The following for me:) Freddy's Glove with knife-claw-things, The universe, Sporks, And a BUTTON, (The following for the muses:) Crackers, Various horror films including Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street, A galaxy (or seven) in Cat's universe, A piece of string (**Kit:** Oh, _rivetting.)_ Nazi Uniforms for us all, Cookie dough of Ultimate doom, Pepermint choc-chip cookie dough, Waffles for the muses, (I dunno if he likes rice crackers, I'll ask XD)Rice-crackers for BunBun, LEMON cobbler, Small radio, CD of Ed singing "Returnable Memories", Life-size naked Envy doll, 'Crackers for da bunny', Ice cube trays for Envy, Ed's BOXERS, A box of pocky, A spider plant named Envy (I have walls of these.. I have a big bamboo leaning up against the shelf by my biggest one, looks like a real palm-tree XD), A can of beans (Beans Beans, the ma-), 50 cents and some lint (0.o (eats)), A box of misc FMA plushies (GLUTTANY-CHAN! ... uh.. (eats) - **Kit:** Ironic death..), A box of havoc's cigarettes, A condom stolen from Envy's back pocket, An official Yaoi Fangirl badge (wears along with all the other stuff I carry daily), A piece of paper, An Itachi plushy (HUGZ), Temporary tattoo like Envy's, Edward Elric (chains and hides in closet), Key to Envy's house, Pride (.. adds to closet), Milk that can be shaped like Al (..?), Hugs and kisses of the Hershey's variety, A bird cage, A Kitty!Ed (adds to closet as well), A Roy pillow, A barrel of catnip (high), A fiddle, Clarinets for the muses (**Seira:** I know how to play these! Awesome! **- Kit:** Music.. uh...).  
(Noises are heard from Cat's closet. Cat shoves her ear to the door and deduces that Pride is molesting chained-up Ed and Kitty!Ed. Grabs camera.)

Notes:  
1. I like eggs...  
**Kit:** I thought you liked guy-on-guy.  
**Cat: **I can't eat guy-on-guy... X3  
2. Some of my reviews had subtle "you took long to update" parts in them... That hurts... My life is BUSY! I have PROJECTS! I have other things I have to DO! Let me update at my own pace! I already go faster than most big-name stories.. Don't see ME taking months to update... Blah.. (angst)(emo)(cut cut cut)  
Shadow Maxwell-Yuy: Thanks for all the gifts and.. uh... "YOU CAN UNDERSTAND KEI? HOW! IMPOSSIBLE! XD"... sorry XD. Thanks for the review!  
3. **GRAPHIC SCENES AHEAD, KIDDIES! READ AT THE RISK OF YOUR PARENTS WALKING IN!** XD  
(Though... Be known that due to the fluffy nature of this fic.. This lemon is soft-core, though still pretty explicit! XD)

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 22 - Night of Fire

Niko  
Speak my name now, speak if it you know how,  
Fly to me, get ready for the;  
Night of Fire!

* * *

"Foreplay. Noun. Sexual stimulation preceding intercourse." 

"Envy.."

"Fondle. Verb. To handle, stroke, or caress lovingly."

"Envy, stop it."

"Thrust. Verb. To push or drive quickly and forcibly."

"Envy, I'm going to hit you."

"Moan. Noun. A low, sustained cry, usually indicative of sorrow, pain, or carnal pleasure.

"How you can remember dictionary-quoted definitions of these while being unable to do fractions properly amazes me."

"... Sadism. Noun. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from cruelty."

Ed's eye twitched as he pushed his way through the small shrubbery of the ravine's steep side. The air was cool, though not as cool as Ed had thought it would be. It was dark, but not overly so, and the moon cast eerie shadows all over the place.

It had been nearly ten-thirty before Envy and Ed had left the house silently. Envy had grabbed the small palm-sized tub of vaseline at Ed's order, but they didn't bring anything else with them. Ed had wanted a blanket, but Envy had convinced him to get "down and dirty". So, tub of lube in hand, they set out to scale down the side of the ravine in the backyard.

Ed looked overhead as a subtle swishing noise gave away a small bird lifting from it's branch-perch. He could hear sounds of the cars and general white-noise of the city, but it seemed far away. Only the creaking of trees and rustling of leaves and animals seemed to be close by.

With a couple stones and dirt rolling along with them, the two slid down a few more feet until finding a natural path that lay right beside the rippling creek. They were a good ten minute's hike from the house, and the stream had widened. Looking up from where they came, there was only the slanted wall of rocks, dirt, gnarled little trees and roots, and other such shrubbery to see, the small forest had been cut out of view.

"There it is." Ed pointed out. Not a dozen meters away was a small grassy inlet, right beside the path that ran with the water. Like Ed had said before, there was a willow tree hovering over it. It was alive and well, though it looked very old and overgrown.

"Nice.. You know.. I swear this is cliché in some way." Envy said off-handedly.

"I doubt many people lose their virginity by the creek. And, under a willow tree." Ed said. Envy shrugged ad replied with a, "You'd be surprised". They continued their pretty easy trek towards the ironically-'romantic' setting. Both of them could have sworn that 'Fate', if there was such a thing, must have been a romance author. (AN: Nah, Fate doesn't exist. We're all just pawns in someone else's fanfiction XD)

It seemed like every step towards the destined area was taking longer and longer than the last. Ed felt himself sweating despite the refreshingly cool air, and eventually, Envy seemed to notice his declining pace. Ed nearly jumped when Envy slipped an arm around his shoulders.

'To think this fully-clothed person walking casually beside me is going to be naked, and on top of me. And I'll probably be squirming.' Ed closed his eyes in annoyance at his mental voice. He didn't seem to be very sexually-confident, though that may have been chalked up to _certain events_. But he trusted Envy, he knew he was safe with him. Envy had sworn to protect him.

Images and rather _embarrassing reactions_ spawned from Envy's earlier teasing had made him very nervous, but excited. Even now, Ed had a hard time trying to block the noises and pictures his hormones wanted so badly to experience. One may wonder why he was so shy about these images when he was about to do them, but he rather liked to pass it off as being modest.

Stepping into the rough, uneven circle of an inlet seemed to turn up the volume of his heart in his chest. He swore if it beat any louder, even Envy would hear it. Ed watched as the older teen surveyed the area, looking mildly impressed. There weren't many dirt patches; it was pretty much just a nice little field of cool, overgrown grass. Envy was saying something as he scouted the patch and kicked away some little rocks, but Ed didn't hear him.

He was still trying to wrap his brain around what he was going to do tonight.

_Willingly._

"-ne, and maybe we.. Edo? Eeedo?" Envy's expression grew flat as he got a good look at the blond. He hadn't even realized that Ed had zoned out. Walking over in a sort of disgruntled stalk, he flicked Ed on the forehead, effectively snapping him out of it.

"_ITAI_! What was that for!" Ed glared, holding his forehead protectively. So much for romantic!

"You're not listening to my plans of kinky kitten sex." Envy said a deep, serious tone.

"... what?"

Envy started laughing and tackled the poor confused blond, telling him that he wasn't even ready for it. "I'll give you another freebie this time, na Edo?" Ed looked up at Envy's grinning face, unable to do anything but just stare at the face of one who caused him so much difficulty, yet so much security. Envy's grin faded as the serious look in Ed's eyes seemed to convey his thoughts.

"Ne.. Edo?" Envy said quietly. "Am I really this important to you?" Envy's arms had been clutching the back of Ed's loose black shirt, but they unfurled and dropped to his hips, where he made sure Ed could feel their strength. Ed was still holding his gaze evenly, unabashed, and returned in such a soft voice, it would have been impossible to hear pretty much anywhere else.

".. I'm still not sure why exactly... But you mean the world to me..." Ed looked away, though his smile was still lingering. He kept his eyes on the sleeve of Envy's green shirt, he hadn't bothered to change it. "You guided me out of that dark place I was in... When I wasn't able to feel anything else but.. pain. You were there."

Envy felt a great sense of.. of something. What was this? As Ed slid his arms around Envy's waist, holding him in the most sincere way he could, all Envy could think of was how much he _needed_ this boy in his arms.

'I think I need you as much as you need me Ed... I still question myself, Us, but I think I need this undying faith of yours. No one else has put so much feeling into me as you have. No one trusts me like you do."

It had started out as a thought. A tail-end of the novels that wrote themselves in his mind over and over again, but somewhere along the way he had spoken it. Ed shifted so he was watching Envy's face intently, and Envy realized what the feeling he had was, what that sense he had was.

It was not just the will to protect, he had sworn that. He would follow through with it, because that it what he promised (_to the one I trust.. only you..)_. No, there was something more, something deeper.

Kinship?

Maybe.. Just maybe. 'We're more alike than either or us know..' Envy thought as he raised his arms to slide Ed's hair tie off his loose ponytail. "But it's the differences that attracts us... huh..." He whispered. Ed closed his eyes as the tie came free, and Envy tossed it just out of the little cove.

"I'll admit that I've never had to think so deeply before having sex." Envy said blatantly. Ed chuckled once, replying with a sly sort of, "I'm sorry for bogging you down with sentiments and value." But there was humor in his eyes, and also.. growing anticipation.

"Bog me down with whatever you like, I'm strong enough to stand anyways." He chuckled, and began to kiss down Ed's jawline. The blond felt his knees begin to strain, he didn't know if he'd be able to stand much longer.

Ed slipped his hand into Envy's hair and fingered for the back of the headband. Envy allowed him to pull it off and over his long, dark hair, and when it was free; he brought it to his face and breathed in the scent of his lover. He giggled at his foolishness, and Envy shot him a predatory smirk that sent chills down his spine.

He barely had time to fling the soft velvety material of the headwear away before Envy was pressing down on his shoulders lightly. The trills in his stomach intensified as the needy glint flashed in Envy's eyes. He obediently let himself down on his knees and Envy followed him, eventually sitting on his feet as Envy straddled his folded legs.

"I've waited so long for you.." Ed blushed and looked away, smiling in an embarrassed sort of way so his teeth peeked out from between his lips. "You have no idea how relieved I was when you could talk to me normally.." Strong arms wrapped around his smaller frame and he cuddled into the chest of his lover. "And you can't even imagine how much I have wanted to make you mine.."

Ed felt like his insides were on fire, the electric trills all over his body were so intense, he couldn't believe he wasn't jerking. But the liquid smooth movements with rock-like stability that Envy possessed seemed to calm him.

'This isn't the same... This isn't the same at all.. Not like **that** time..'

"Envy.."

"Hmm?"

"Just.. go easy, alright?"

"Yes... sir..."

With a lopsided grin, Envy pressed his lips to Ed's lighter than he normally would have liked to, but possessive none-the-less. He was using one arm to lock Ed protectively against him, but the other was free to do as it pleased.

Ed felt shivers go up his back as a cool hand was slipped under his shirt, massaging the muscles of his lower back and stealing heat as it did so. Those ample fingers played with the curves of his spine, and for a moment, Ed thought Envy was going to aim southward, but to his - Relief? Disappointment? - They went higher and teased, tickling his shoulder blades.

"So soft, you really are like a kitten.." Envy murmured, and Ed blushed fully again. Envy was playing with his hair now, pinning him to his chest, _and_ making swirling motions with his fingers on his back. And kissing his throat, can't forget that..

"Who knew you were such a multitasker.." Ed murmured. Envy pulled back after licking his lips seductively, he'd rather liked the feeling of Ed's throat vibrating against his lips.

"Who knew I was able to stall so long?" There was an evil sort of look in his eyes, though not really threatening. Ed grew playfully nervous as the next words came out, though he had a funny feeling he knew what they were going to be;

"Oh that's right... **I Can't**."

To Ed's surprise, at the same time that Envy got up on his knees, he was pushing Ed back to lie on the cool grass. When he felt the ground, the little green plants were ticking his ears. Envy straddled his waist and was leering down at him, a hand on either side of Ed's shoulders.

"Do you think you're a screamer?" He asked playfully. Immediately, Ed felt a painful image flash behind his eyes, but he made no indication that he'd seen it. Too bad Envy read him so well.

"It's not like Greed." Envy said soothingly, though firmly. "He wants to hear screams for the pain. That's all he ever wants it for."

Ed gave him a deep, thoughtful look, turning his head away just slightly, and some golden hair fell away from his throat, making him seem even more vulnerable. He asked his question in a soft voice. "What do_ you _want to hear it for?"

Envy's smirk was smoother, more subtle than usual as he replied with a, "I want to hear you scream your submission to me. I want to know, I want **you** to know, that you will belong to me." Ed's heart beat wildly in his chest at the reply. Normally, one so hot-headed as himself wouldn't _want_ to be 'owned', but.. but somehow.. If it was Envy.. Then it was okay. Somehow.

Envy bent over and leaned on his forearms, whispering directly into Ed's ear, silkily and confident as he always was;

"So scream Ed, scream as loud as you can in that lovely voice... It's not in pain.. Not this time.. This time, it'll be in _pleasure_..."

Ed smiled nervously, though he didn't feel confident. He was completely at Envy's mercy. He practically purred when he felt the older male's hand wind into his soft hair. Envy's lips found his again, and he relived that night when they kissed for the first time at the club. Though, Envy wasn't about to french-kiss him then.

Ed felt Envy's tongue asking for entrance, and he wasn't being shy about it at all. Shamelessly dragging his tongue across Ed's lips, there was not a single hint of lack of experience. Ed was still savoring the unique flavor of Envy's mouth, and missed the questioning affections. So he was surprised when Envy slipped his tongue into Ed's mouth without permission.

A small squeak sounded and Envy chuckled into the kiss. _That time with **him** was nothing.. You're still very much virgin, Edo..._

Ed finally noticed during their passionate kissing that Envy's hand hadn't been idle, and was slipping lower and lower, slowly, so as not to alert him. He broke the kiss and looked over, giving Envy an almost triumphant look at discovering his game. The dark-haired teen grinned and pushed his fingers under the waistband of Ed's shorts.

'Ah... He's going to start...' Ed thought with a nervous look. His lips were partially open, and he closed his eyes, trying to stop his shivering. He wasn't cold, no, quite the contrary, but the feeling of the taller, stronger male on top of him...

_'I think you were meant for me.. Envy..'_

Those pale fingers pressed lightly on his member as they passed, but kept going and reached under; stroking the other parts of his most private physical area. Ed couldn't take the deliberate slowness, and he felt himself squirm, trying to feel more of the touch and yet trying not to give into the urge.

"Oh, that's delicious koi.." Envy purred and roughly made his way down Ed's neck, seeing as he was too distracted to notice the harshness. He made sure his touches were light, teasing, eliciting a primal urge to want, no, **need** more. Every stroke, every twirl around the sensitive flesh was to bring forth more little mewls from the blond boy under him.

"Envy please... ah.. I- I need-"

"I know, Edo, but you're going to work for it this time.."

Lust-clouded gold eyes locked with superior violet ones, all too knowing and ready to dish out pleasure where it was due. Once again, he slipped his hand under Ed's shirt, but this time, it was to take it off.

The black shirt was tossed away, and Envy's green one followed it, though he had to take it off himself. Ed was a little one-track-minded right now..

'I can't believe this is happening... Right now, I can't believe I'm doing this...' Gazing up at the pale, deceptively small-built chest above him, Ed reached up and locked his arms around Envy's neck; eyes and lips pleading. He was nervous beyond anything he'd ever felt before, but oh, there was not way he could stop. He was rewarded, to his immediate pleasure, with the fingers abandoning their previous tasks and trailing up the underside of his member.

The fingers were drawing twin thoughts from Ed, one was the excitement; the feeling.. He just couldn't take how _amazing_ it was.. But the other... Nervousness, even fear... To have someone else's hand go where his own rarely went, and do what his own never did...

His attention was drawn to Envy's mouth again, as he leaned down and took a nipple in his mouth, teasing it to hardness with his teeth. The feeling, the sensations, they were too much and Ed out-right moaned, a deep needing note. When Envy blew cool air on the hardened nub, the moan was repeated, or more like it intensified.

"That's right... use your voice Edo... That's what it's for.."

Ed knew his eyes were nearly shut, but he struggled to keep them open, he needed to _see... _He needed to see everything. Envy, the young man who'd just swept into his life... right there, so _close_... Closer than close, they were about to be come one... The feeling in his lower regions stopped suddenly, and he moaned again, displeasure, as Envy left his manhood and pulled off the shorts and dropped them away as well. Ed hissed at the coolness of the air against his hot groin, and Envy followed up by removing his own shorts, though with less drama.

Ed looked at both their nude bodies best he could from his submissive position, starting to pant slightly. His body seemed so **small** in comparison to Envy's much more mature one... He shut his eyes tight, opening them again only to stare up at the source of his torment, whining slightly. Why oh why did Envy need to draw this out... It was so much _worse_ that he was going slow, he wanted to go faster.. faster...

"Faster.. please. Envy I can't take this..." He murmured, blushing at what this whole act was reducing him to. He never knew he was going to be so _absurdly_ submissive...

"Alright koi, if you insist.. Though I'm loving your frustration.." He snickered. He wanted to hear... _louder_ vocalizations from the teen anyways. He looked over distastefully at the tub of vaseline, and Ed followed his gaze. His heart sped up at the mere sight, what it's simple presence there meant, but Envy's voice cut into his thoughts.

"I really don't want to use that." He muttered, and Ed shivered. "Envy, I want to use _some_ kind of lubrication..." The response brought nothing but a smirk to Envy's face, and before Ed knew it, three fingers were perched on his lower lip.

"Oh, you're kidding me.." He whispered, face paling. Envy grinned and shook his head slowly. His other hand took the nipple that was still dry and he pinched it slightly, making Ed gasp. Taking the opportunity, three fingers were slipped into the blonde's mouth.

Envy grinned at the look of nervousness blended with need and frustration. He loved that look, he would make sure to burn it into his memory forever. Ed was such a strong, individualistic person when he was in a normal setting, but, Envy thought with amusement, he turned into quite the affectionate kitten when presented with intimate situations. With _him_ at least.

Ed's tongue slid over his fingers hesitantly, testing, slowly and unsure. Envy decided quickly that he loved the feeling, but after a moment, pulled them out and whispered a sultry, "Good job koi.."

Ed shivered again and laid his head back, thick hair spreading a bit and winding into the grass even more than it already had. He felt Envy back off a bit, and he lost his hold and dropped his arms to the ground, but he wasn't _too _disappointed as he felt his legs being spread apart.

A single moist digit pressed teasingly against his entrance, and he started to pant again. He'd have thought that more things would be flying through his head, but all he could think about was Envy. Envy on him, Envy touching him, Envy entering him, Envy Envy Envy..

He moaned as the finger was slowly but surely entering him, and soon enough, another was added. He reached out, trying to grab a hold of any part of Envy he could, but the older boy smirked as all he could manage was a grip on his long, dark green hair.

"Don't panic too much, the best is yet to come.." He said lowly, his voice hitting an unusual deep note. He pushed a third finger into the blonde's entrance, with some minor difficulty, and felt his own hardness become _just_ a bit more uncomfortable when Ed let out a long, low groan. He moved his fingers in a scissor-like motion, stretching slightly that _wonderful_ tightness he couldn't wait to experience. Ed's eyes were shining, so intoxicated with lust that Envy was sure the smaller boy was only thinking of him, Envy, the one who would have him tonight. The one who would claim ownership over him for as long as they were together, which was hoped at being... forever..

Ed thrust up suddenly, much to his own surprise just as it was to Envy, and he looked sheepish under his needy expression. Envy used his free hand to hold his hip down, ready for another instinctual urge to buck upwards.

While he slowly got Ed used to the feeling of having an object inside of him, Envy looked the younger teen up and down. Spread out, clutching at him, but definitely well-built and muscled. It was so satisfying to see the mighty, strong individual under his, Envy's, complete will.. And that broad, tanned chest.. yummy... Envy had always found sex with other males to be exhilarating, but almost too rough, not enough _feeling._ There was no need for closeness, it was straight to the point and quick, not satisfying at all. Envy wasn't even in the dominant position often enough times, _definitely_ not satisfying to him. And women... Well, women were better with that, but he had always seemed to find women too... _squishy_ for lack of a better word.

Ed was closeness, he was the intimacy. He was soft, but not so much that he was weak. He craved the deeper bond that Envy had always craved, but didn't even know it. He was the one that made Envy feel like he was _really_ wanted, needed.

_'I think you were meant for me.. Edo..'_

Ed was sustaining a long, deep note, and trying very hard to suppress it, much to Envy's amusement. He pulled his fingers from the tight entrance and called Ed's name slowly, sensually, to catch his notice.

"Edo... Be ready for me..." He purred. Ed nodded, and one of his hands that had been clamped on the older male's long hair let go and fastened around Envy's wrist, the one attached to the hand still on his hip should he buck again. He watched Envy closely; excitement building and anticipation burning in his eyes, and Envy repositioned himself slightly and finally pressed the tip of his own member against Ed's entrance.

Ed had thought he would go slowly, but Envy was too unpredictable to be read so easily. He thrust forward, pushing his length inside the smaller boy in one fell motion, buried to the hilt.

_(-Like the roar of a wounded tiger, strangled but proud, it ripped from his throat with a force unsurpassed..-)_

_Immediately,_ he was screaming. Screaming like it was fire being pressed into him, every single nerve relaying the cut of a knife for all Ed interpreted it as.

Envy reached out and wrapped his arms around Ed quickly, soothingly and using a calm voice to relay a gentleness he didn't know he had. The screams subsided, but his blonde was still sobbing, letting strangled emissions of his pain let loose from his lips. He was gladly embraced back, and Ed was crying gently, and grinding his teeth together. He had no idea.. No idea that the pain... _would be the same..._

Ed clutched Envy so hard he would probably have bruises his arms (and Envy with scratches), but the pain he felt in the tissue around Envy's length was so fierce it was impossible not to hold him. He had _no idea_ that the penetration would be so painful, and he felt shamed as the few salty droplets joined the sweat on his face.

"It's okay, you're doing just fine.."

"Keep going.. Oh god, Envy keep going.. Make me know it's really you..." The blonde whispered. Envy smiled, thinking that for an atheist, Ed really knew how to put all the stress he could on the saying. But, it was the second part that was important, he _would_ make sure Ed knew. This was all up to him now..

"Say my name, Edo, you know it's me, say it.." He murmured, and began to pull out slowly. Ed clenched his eyes shut and a pained noise ground from his throat for every inch that Envy retracted.

"Say it.." He murmured, and steadied himself, slamming back in to the satisfying sound of his name being called out breathlessly. He pulled back out again, the noise from before repeated, and slammed in once again, and Ed yelled his name louder.

The younger teen gasped and writhed, the pain slowly blending away into another feeling, something much, much nicer as Envy picked up a rhythm. He could feel something inside him, something that badly need to.. to what? Explode? That was it, that's how he could describe it...

He felt Envy's hand wrap around his stiff member, and started pumping to the same rhythm he was thrusting at. The dual stimulation was bringing him closer to that feeling, that **need** to be released...

_Faster and fast and faster..._

He noticed that the confining hand was gone from his hip, and before he knew it, he was thrusting upwards to beat Envy's hips blow for blow, the impact suddenly intensified. Ed looked up and caught Envy's pale face, he was sweating and his eyes were narrowed, Ed knew he was tight around Envy's heat, but he had no idea _how_ tight. But it made it all the more friction, all the more intensity... And satisfaction... _He_ was the one causing that look on his lover's face, it was _him_ creating that pleasure in the older male...

Ed was screaming, every rhythmic impact punctuated by the cutting sound of "ENVY!". He felt every hammering hit, that unshakable force hitting the inside of him, and after their pace was exhaustingly fast, the bundle of nerves inside him finally reached their limit, and he finally hit the blindingly intense feeling of orgasm.

**"ENVY, OH GOD!"** He screamed frantically, and his legs shot up and around his pleasuring source at the same moment the muscles inside him tightened. This was too much for Envy, and he came with a loud, shuddering moan himself. It was a binding feeling, it stripped him, both of them, of the ability to understand or comprehend anything other than what they were feeling, and what had created that feeling. The evidence of his climax was hidden, though the hot fluid dripping from his fingers and thigh incriminated Ed's release immediately.

Time seemed to stop for a moment, and the two stayed still, dazed by the twin hot explosions. Envy eventually pulled out with a wet sound to puncture the silence, extracting a small whimper from his little lover at the same time. He bent down and sunk his teeth into Ed's shoulder without much warning. A small cry of surprise, but Envy was sucking on the sore spot and licking it soothingly soon enough. With a final possessive whisper of _"Mine" _rolling heavily off his lips, he collapsed onto the sweaty body underneath him, gliding on the feeling of afterglow. He swore he would have fallen asleep to the soft movements of Ed's confined panting, but some uncomfortable squirming forced him off and onto the refreshingly cool grass.

He was staring up, following the lines and curves of the dark, shadowy branches of the willow tree standing proud and strong above him, though he wasn't truly seeing them. He was vaguely aware of Ed nestling up against him, draping an arm over his waist and pressing his forehead against his upper arm. Envy turned and wrapped the teen up in his own arms, placing his lips against Ed's soft hair, and the blond buried his face into the crook of Envy's neck.

Neither of them knew exactly how long they lay there snuggling; exposed, nude, bathing in each other's heat with legs intertwined, but it would be hours before they'd be ready to get up and make the short journey back home.

And when one is in the arms of their warm, happy lover, surrounded by nice, cool air and the sounds of the forest, smell of the grass, darkness of the night...

It seemed like they would never be parted again.

* * *

_Take a moment to listen to the sound of silence, koi... The silence in your mind... Because peace there is the most rare kind of all..._

* * *

The next day came quickly. It seemed like the night had burned out as rapidly as pouring water over a flame, and the sun was out much too fast. The two teens were energetic in the morning, deceptively so, and Al was none-the-wiser to the activity done not fifteen minutes from his house. 

Remarkable really, considered how loudly little Edo was screaming.

With a series of skirmishes all through-out the morning (Al versus Ants, Envy versus Ed, though both had different intents) the three teens managed to get ready for school, and the house was cleared in a timely fashion.

Now, somewhere in the middle of lunch on a blissful Friday, Ed and Envy were joined up with some familiar, and apparently nosy, characters.

"Aw, ca'maan! You guys so did it. It's SO obvious." Marcus drawled, pointing at various afflicted areas that were visible. Envy was smirking and not saying anything, knowing full-well that the other boys knew what had happened. Ed was blushing down to his feet, and was staring with wide eyes at his sandwich.

They were all outside, sitting under the big tree to the side of the building at always provided the right amount of shade. The sun was beating fiercely, but the wind was icy, chilling the potentially warm day. All five males were wearing light jackets or sweaters of some sort.

"Sooo... How does it feel Edo? Finally not a virgin anymore?" Duo asked cheekily, wagging an elbow in the blonde's direction. Envy looked at him, but all Ed did was smile shyly. He had decided for himself, and mentioned it to Envy, that he considered his virginity given to the older male. The agreement had been mutual, since there was nothing sacred about the first time Ed had been taken.

"You should have heard him scream.." Envy chuckled, and immediately tore responses from the other males. Ed called out an embarrassed, "Envy!", as Duo laughed heartily and Kei chuckled. Marcus snickered, but wasn't as enthusiastic.

"Guud sing yu can shtill speak, rite Edao!" (Good thing you can still speak, right Edo!") Kei teased and chuckled in his soft voice. He lay back into the grass, his short white spikes pushing the green plants roughly due to his hair's coarse nature.

Ed sniffed lightly as a reply, or lack of, and swayed nervously. He was sitting right beside Envy though he wasn't actually making contact. Envy found the newfound nervousness around other people when the topic of their actions came up to be very endearing. He'd have to make sure said topic came up more often.

Some more chuckling ensued when later in the conversation, Duo began to tease Ed and started singing immaturely about what they'd done, but Ed eventually bumped him in the forehead harshly with his palm and gained back some stature. He tried not to show how much the action actually _hurt_, for under his coat and long-sleeved shirt, there were bruises from the night before.

There seemed to be bruises everywhere, and there was a persistent, dull pain in his rear. He also had the sting of the harsh bite on his shoulder, though that particular area was rather used to the pain. Envy had deep, red scratch marks all down his back, and he reported that they, "hurt like a bitch", so Ed wasn't the only one with painful evidence of the night's romp. He couldn't say he didn't feel a little devious about his 'vengeance' though.

The lunch chattering drew to a close as the bell sounded, and general groans of displeasure of the awaiting next classes sounded. The five students broke up into singles or pairs and went off to their respective classes cheerfully, and in some cases, with a final playfully mocking comment.

* * *

Envy caught sight of Marco's room and mentally deflated. He hated the class, since he really didn't do well in math. Ed had offered to help him before, but he refused to be tutored. He caught sight of Kei and shrugged in reply to the cheerful wave, but then looked away and down to glance at Ed. 

"You like them that much, huh?" He asked with humor. He was referring to Ed's mark, as he had been caught touching the affliction quite a few times that day, like he was now. Ed didn't look at him and blushed, a cute determined look on his face. Envy bent down and whispered in his ear, "I'm glad you like bites so much, you'll have plenty more to finger after our next time."

They both walked into class, one with a grin, and one with a blush.

* * *

**Cat:** ... Short, and the highest sexual focal point of the story so far... I LOVE IT! XD  
**Seira:** That was so **cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!  
****Kit:** Not bad. (Shrug and grin)  
**Cat:** Thaaanks! Now it's your turn readers, how'd I do? XD Man, I love this story... Fluffy take on ExE... God, who knew they could make such a happy pairing...

* * *

Coming up, 

Sin High

Chapter 23 - At the Beginning

Donna&Richard  
No one told me,  
I was going to find you.  
Unexpected;  
What you did to my heart!  
When I lost hope,  
You were there to remind me:  
"This is the start!"

* * *

Basically, the Sin High series is taking a nice, calming lull where everything is sweet and pretty much normal. Well, as normal as one can be with these two!  
Ed and Envy learn more about themselves and each other, and discover how much they are meant for the other! Watch the series of events unfold, such as the playful scuffling between the competitive teens, right down to shopping with Envy! Oh Ed, leather really suits you, doesn't it!  
Watch out though, no relationship is perfect, and some turbulence is in for these two! But it's all in the name of love, right? 

See ya next time! (And don't forget to check out ExPxE(dot)com!)


	23. At the Beginning

There, 9000 words. Everyone be fucking happy. : D

* * *

**Cat:** It was just last chapter where I said I don't take months to update... And here I go and take a month anyways. For the first time mind you, but still.  
_**THANK ALL GODS THAT SCHOOL IS FINALLY OVER. (Got pwnd by projects/exams, so sue me ... )  
**_**Kit: **... 

**Cat Got:  
**Sharingan contacts (UA! I've wanted these since forever!), A real Palm Tree from Hawaii, FMA manga, Al plushie with special ant-killing abilities, A milk carton with Ed's face on it, Chibi!Wrath plushie (HUGS), Catnip (urk.. Overdose.. (dead)), Chocolate cake, A book on how to take care of Ed!kitties (SCREE! Can I keep 'em Mommy!), Twenty balls of yarn (mmm.. I know _just_ what to do with _these_.. XD), Silly string, Two sexy cakes made by Edo and Envy, Banner from the caravan saying 'Congrats on your 22nd Chapter in Sin High!', Philosopher's stone, Winry's wrench (Hands to Eli XD), Video Camera, Black stone from Valley of Kings, Palm-tree leaf, Japanese Conepalm, Giraffe vibrator from a McDonald's happy meal (I should get more fast food if we get stuff like **this** at Mikky-D's. XD (gives to confused Edo)), Charm Bracelet with charms of Ed and Envy, Leather clothes (These! For Me! omg.. (suits up) waa... Sleeeeeeeek...), Giant box of cookies along with jug of milk, Envy-flavored cookie (Oh wowie... How'd you get him to agree? XD (ravenous chewing)), Basket of triple chocolate chip cookies, A chocolate fondue set and fountain, A leaky pen, A holiday resort house (Yaaay! Party at my place!), Flowers and Crown, (And from a certain Predator... XD) 3 tons of catnip, a tape with Ed and Envy having wild, kinky outdoors sex, $100 to buy whatever the hell you want. a baby field mouse, a thong that Envy's worn, clones of Ed and Envy that make out with each other 24/7, Mustang's

gloves, a briefcase that has snippets of everyone on FMA's hair, Envy's voice in a box, a videotape of Envy singing and dancing and stripping to 'I'm too sexy', Ed's automail, elastic bands, a featherduster, a pair of broken earphones.

Notes:  
Livy: But pain is good! It's GOOD! XXDD (I don't see Envy as the "lube" type, sorry.. And Edo's scream was too delicious to leave out!  
koneko-kitty-chan: XD Honestly, as weird as it may seem, I don't feel awkward writing lemons and such at ALL. XD I read way too much yaoi, I'm past desensitized. As for difficulty, naw, I think I catch them well enough, since I've sorta created their psyche (grin). Thanks for your review!  
Hope Rising: Yet again your review made me laugh my lungs up XD. Omg.. I write for people like you.. XD - Quoting you again, hope ya don't mind!  
"I heard somewhere that "vasaline will not come off with axel grease and hot lava". I mean, sure, it'd be good at first, but then Ed'd be end up dragging his butt on the carpet like a dog in a psychotic frenzy. Hehehe it woulda been funny if Al HAD heard them.  
Ed: OH ENVY OH GOD!  
Al: (wide awake w/ dark circles under his eyes) ...I think I need to bleach my soul..."  
thoughtless dreamer: You thought the lemon was kinky? XXDD Stick around for one of my upcoming stories and I'll blow you right out of the water! XXDD  
1. Wowie.. I was reading over an old chapter and.. My style sure was... _Rough_ back then... XD I'm tempted to re-style like, the first half or so of this story.. Nah. Too much work.. (lazy..) Besides... These two lovebirds aren't the only one taking a _Journey_, so to speak.  
kiellne: SCREEECH. "Highest sexual focal point in the whole story" OOPS. XD omg, huge mistake, I actually meant SO FAR. XXDD ERROR. ERROR. Damn.. fucking typo... XD (Edit in: Thanks K-chan, I've fixed it in the previous chappie!)  
Icyblackflame: Hey there, just a quick response, I use "Alu" because, Japanese or not, "Alphonse" is not a Japanese name, and I'll say it how it's intended, not pronounced. Besides... Alu.. suits:3 Thanks for you compliments/criticism! (Ps-Thanks, I know how all the names are spelled XD)  
animeluvernumber1: Actually.. I thought I made it up! If there is really such a thing, that's irony for ya! XD  
2. I reread my last chapter, and I ended up editing a few parts of the lemon.. Very minor stuff.. It's just a tad smoother now. X3

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 23 - At the Beginning - Act 1

Donna&Richard  
No one told me,  
I was going to find you.  
Unexpected;  
What you did to my heart!  
When I lost hope,  
You were there to remind me:  
"This is the start!"

* * *

Saturday (1 week later) - 8:31am - Elric House 

Envy chuckled and kissed the neck of his squirming lover. Said lover whined and tried to push him away, but his efforts weren't all that persuasive.

"Envy! What if Alu comes in again!" Ed growled, and used his hands to try and push Envy back by the shoulders.

Envy took the force as a challenge and began wrestling with the shorter blond, saying that "after yesterday, the chibi wouldn't EVER walk in without knocking again." It was probably true. Yesterday morning, Saturday (one week and a morning after they'd "Bonded"), Al had gone up the stairs after his ritual morning wake-up calls seemed unheard. He had apparently forgotten that Envy was in there as well, and he'd ended up walking in to see Envy hovering over his brother with his hands all over the blonde's body, and Ed looking very flushed. It wasn't mentioned for the rest of the day.

But back to the scene at hand.. Oh yes, lover's-wrestling match..

Envy saw an opening and grinned fiercely as he snatched both of Ed's wrists and clamped them together, forcing them over his head and against the headboard. He figured that he was strong enough to hold both wrists with a single hand, so he tried it, lowering his right to explore his prey unhindered.

"Don't underestimate me!" Ed growled, though he wasn't actually angry, just.. excitable that way. He struggled and managed to get his arms apart enough to make Envy reach back up and reinforce the first hand.

"Na, I guess I'll need a sock or something to keep you bonded up..." He grinned, liking the idea of a tied-up Edo. Maybe he really _would_ go get a sock. It certainly seemed to shock the other teen enough, and Envy smirked as Ed's eyes went wider. He glanced hungrily over the golden locks that spilled out over the pillow, and even lay tantalizingly over slightly tanned, muscled shoulders. Ooh too tempting... Mission Find Sock.. In Progress..

Envy swung off and over Ed like a gymnast and right out of bed, landing beside it and on the hard floor lightly and near-soundlessly. He didn't look pleased at the cold air that swept around his naked body, but he didn't waste any time. He dashed over to find a nice black sock on the floor, left out of either lazy discare, or unknown genius foresight. Ed watched him suspiciously, sitting up and letting the sheets gather in his lap without much thought. He wasn't seriously going to..

With wide eyes, Ed realized Envy had **every intention** of literally binding him with the simple footwear, and he scrambled to bolt off the end of the bed. All last week, he and Envy had had plenty of "closeness" (coughmakingoutcough), but Ed had found increasing pleasure in "fighting Envy off", and Envy had found pleasure in taking down his now much-more-feisty prey. It probably chalked up just how much they loved their involvement...

Before Ed had even made it half-way off the bed, Envy threw and arm out to catch him in the chest and throw him _harshly_ into the soft, bouncy sheets. He quickly got on the bed and straddled his quickly-recuperating chibi.

Ed kept his focus and immediately tried to force the heavy teen off him by shoving at his upper-legs, and Envy found the attempt to be admirable, though still quite amusing.

Ed struggled to put his weight into it, though lying down caused that plan to be sort of useless. He had already wondered why he was more apt to wrestle with Envy now, especially to get out of more intimate situations, but speculation had quickly granted him a rather embarrassing theory: He was _purposely _denying Envy the one thing he wanted, him, Ed, and by doing that, he made the wild teen try harder. The more vigorous tumbles, although not proceeding too far in themselves, ended up being more _pleasing._ 'Well', Ed had concluded, 'Envy will have to work to get me all nice and passive, won't he?'

Some quick movements and wild arm maneuvers were thrown about as Envy was trying to grab Ed's wrists, and Ed was trying to stop him. Predictably, Envy (being the better fighter) caught the limbs and awkwardly managed to tie the sock around them. Quite the feat there, a most envy-worthy talent...

Ed looked up distastefully at his bound wrists and mock-glared at Envy. He was, behind the deceiving eyes, loving the attention. He knew it. He knew Envy could read it in his golden orbs perfectly. That was their new way of dealing with each other. Ed fought, was eventually caught, and both plundered the other for what their goals were in the first place. Envy explored. Ed _was_ explored.

"Now... What should I do with you?" Envy leered, resting his hands on his bare hips. Ed lowered his own hands to lay them on his stomach, and he did his best to look coyly defiant. What _indeed_ should the older teen do?

Envy grinned as he got an idea, and he took the bound wrists and held them against the headboard once again, though it was much easier to **keep** them there than it was before.

Mindful of the most-likely alert blond downstairs, Envy kept himself more-or-less restrained, but that didn't stop him from getting the full amount of enjoyment from his little lover that he could manage in the situation. Walking his fingers along Ed's torso and further south, he whispered in Ed's ear.

Ed shivered as the warm breath washed over his skin, and promises of sweet future plans excited him, but still made him nervous. Envy seemed to like telling stories of what he wanted to do with him, how, where..

"But for now koi... _Sing for me.._"

Ed yelped as his member was grabbed none-too-gently and pumped once, eliciting a low moan. He and Envy had yet to fully engage in sex again, thankfully, since the weather was a good bit colder than last week, and a midnight-romp wasn't such a good idea anymore. But, Envy seemed to be satisfied with _numerous_ intimate periods throughout the day with him, and usually, Ed was more than happy to oblige.

Ed struggled, trying to free his hands so he could touch, _feel,_ do something back, but Envy held his immobile limbs at bay easily. He stroked Ed's growing heat teasingly, not yet sure if the blond would allow him to continue. Ed was very touchy about this sort of thing when his brother was in the house..

They had turned out to be so inseparable, it was really amazing. They had gone into the relationship with morals and hopes set, and after becoming _physically_ entangled... The ties were unmovable. They could read each other so well, their eyes were completely open to one another, secrets and veiled mysteries were no longer safe, but shared. The need to be together, _protect,_ and learn more about one another had amplified. With each day it seemed. Flaws, conflicts, they would be revealed in time, but for now only a young passion was burning.

"Ah.. Envy.. please..." Ed mumbled, breathing harder than usual. He could feel himself hardening, and that part of himself was calling out to be satisfied.

"You _suuure_, koi?" Envy slurred, trailing his fingers back up Ed's length. This caused the blond to try and arch up into the touch, but Envy's weight from sitting on him stopped most of the movement. "Your brother's still here.." Teasing, tantalizing. Envy didn't care much about Al hearing, but seeing Ed's need was too much fun..

"I- ah.. just go.. I'll be quiet..." Ed said under his breath, shifting around with the building tension in his groin. Envy snickered, and decided to be merciful.

"Alright.." He backed up a bit to sit on Ed's thighs and revealed the younger teen's source of need, then wrapped his fingers around the member to start his "cure". At first, he just danced his curled hand over lightly, allowing just enough friction to feel, but not enough to even remotely satisfy. He looked up to see his beautiful blonde's face, golden eyes narrowed in shameless desire, and lips parted in the slightest to show teeth clenched.

Envy tightened his hand just slightly, furthering his touch to the muscles under the skin, and continued to watch Ed's reactions as he pumped, slowly, unmercifully..

Ed shut his eyes, and his head moved back as he tried to move, jolt, _anything_ to get that hand to close more.. tighten.. Envy watched his movements with predatory interest. Like a wolf to a kitten, but in a different sense. He loved the look of the hardened muscled straining under tanned skin, the slow collection of the tiniest hints of sweat on his brow, the golden hair being pushed and pulled as he squirmed, bangs swaying to tickle his cheeks...

Envy threw his own head back to toss his long hair out of his face. It always seemed to collect in front of his eyes when it wasn't in a headband. Once free of the green locks, he tightened his grip rapidly, and pumped quicker. He watched with fascinated violet eyes as Ed couldn't control his own vocalizations at the intensifying stimulation, and seemed to alternate between moaning and breathing. Moan, breathe, moan, breathe, breathe, moooooaan...

He was trying so hard.. Aww, what a cute chibi. Envy couldn't help but snicker as Ed tried valiantly to free his arms, but Envy wouldn't have it. It was too much fun to see him struggle.. His hand stilled, way too suddenly, and Ed's whole body seemed to roll.

"Envy please! Don't stop! Don't.. au.. En-" He was cut off by a pair of lips that took their fill of his taste, then retreated and hovered. Ed looked up at Envy, inches from his face, every fiber of his being silently screaming for the other to continue.

"My my... You're going to have one hell of a time when I finally get my REAL way with you.. My house.. alone.. with _all my tools_..." He purred. A high-pitched whine emanated from deep in Ed's throat, and Envy decided to use his evil tendencies, however restrained.

He locked his lips to Ed's jawline and kissed, sucking and nibbling as well as forcing the blonde's head up to reveal more delicious throat. He flexed his hand to show the younger teen that he hadn't forgotten his main goal, but Ed still tried to beg release. Whatever he said didn't come out properly due to the angle his head was pushed at.

Ed didn't want Envy leaving marks so high up, they were difficult enough to hide when they were lower, but he didn't dare oppose Envy now, not when he was _so close_ to climaxing. When Envy had sufficiently (and roughly) left a nice big patch of discolored skin along Ed's lower jaw, only then did he allow the smaller teen to look at him.

"Envy.. please..." He whispered. He loved this older male on top of him, but why did the bastard have to be so _cruel!_

He was rewarded with Envy's thumb rubbing against the sensitive tip of his member, firmly, teasingly, and Ed looked almost frustrated. He tried to jerk his hands away again, but the one clamped over them like iron held fast.

"Should I? Na, maybe I should wait until another time..." He sang, turning his head but keeping his gaze locked with the other's.

"No, please! Envy I need it!"

A dramatic sigh. "I guess it can't be helped.." He leered at the other and tightened his hand harshly, and pumped quickly to make up for the lost time. Ed jerked with each pump, but came to his climax rapidly. The long, low, _loud_ moan was caught entirely and consumed by Envy's lips, who kissed him at the last moment. He felt Ed's release come warm on his stomach and inner thighs.

Envy lifted his head and looked at Ed with a soft, almost kind gaze. "Better?" His voice was soft.

Ed opened his own golden orbs and went to speak, but then dropped it and closed his mouth again. Envy captured those lightly kiss-swollen lips and they shared a sweet, silent moment.

After they parted, Ed voiced a question that had been asked before, but insufficiently answered. "When will you let me do that to you?"

Envy's lips pulled up in a cheeky smile, revealing sharp white teeth and he let go of Ed's wrists, which came down slowly and Envy set to untie them.

"When I say so, koi." A snort was all he got for his reply, but he chuckled anyways. The sock came free with some difficulty, and Ed rubbed his friction-burned wrists. Envy wanted to breed a more, 'dominant' streak into his blond; because he knew it would be oh-so-much-more satisfying to take Ed down when he was fighting for the top position. To reduce a kitten to a kitten was one thing, but to reduce a tiger? That seemed sweeter by far.

Ed looked at the older teen's abdomen and blushed, seeing the evidence of his pleasure gleaming in the morning sunlight.

"I'll go in first." Envy said, and got up in all his naked glory. Ed looked away, blushing slightly and agreed. They went in the shower together a couple times, but it was really too small to enjoy much... Envy had mentioned that he couldn't wait to be allowed out of the police's restraints, and in his own home. He had _promised_ Ed that they would have some pretty fun times there..

Ed waited patiently as the white noise from the bathroom seemed to be the soundtrack to his morning, and he looked around his room almost in a bored fashion.

It had already been rather messy in his room (at least in comparison to the rest of the house), but ever since Envy had moved in (and he'd been in the mind-frame to notice), it had gotten even less orderly. Envy's few bags and possessions were left around his room like they belonged there in the first place, and it really didn't look all that nice. Ed made himself a mental note to clean up a bit.

Roughly twenty minutes later was when Envy came back and hovered at the door, a towel wrapped loosely around his hips as he vigorously attacked his long hair with a towel. Ed chuckled at the picture, big strong Envy fussing with his uncooperative mane, and that drew the older male's attention.

"What? This mess isn't funny... Only downside to it..." He muttered, and his pulling angled his head back in a series of jerks to show off his pale throat in all it's vulnerability.

Ed leaned back on his arms, still sitting on the bed and still very much naked. He turned his head partially away while still keeping an interested eye on Envy. Even he didn't know why his modesty seemed to fluctuate.. "Want me to brush it for you?"

The older teen walked in the room and shook his head, still at war with his wild green locks. "If I let you attempt this, you'd force me to get a haircut. I'd one pissed-off boyfriend if I had to get this cut. Or you, if I fought hard enough and refused.." Envy rolled his eyes at his teasing, but Ed grinned and pushed himself off the bed.

"I like it how it is, I wouldn't ask you to cut it." He said in his defense, and went to find his towel. Envy plopped down on the bed and watched his nude blond wearily. "You sure as hell wouldn't be so fond of it if you had to brush it... Damn stuff.." He muttered and kept at his task. He'd wouldn't be surprised if he was still trying to brush it even after Ed got out of the shower. Took him _forever_ on a bad hair day..

"Maybe you should use conditioner.." Ed trailed off as he exited the room. A loud, obnoxious scoff was all he got, and he chuckled all the way to the bathroom.

"Use conditioner... Bah.." Envy muttered as he heard the door close. He finished up with the drying part, and looked around to find his brush. It was one of those heavy-duty silver ones, able to straighten our wire meshing for all the reinforcement it had. He noticed how the room seemed a little messy as he searched from the bed with his eyes, and made a mental note to tell Ed he should clean it up. Maybe he'd help too, if he was in a good mood... (or help distract in any case..)

A fierce, equal-sided battle was fought, but Envy eventually won. He once again mentally praised his super-hair-brush, ally in combat. Ed wandered out of the steamy bathroom just as Envy finished brushing out his hair, and he looked very proud as it seemed to bunch together in groups like it usually did. The effect was pretty nice, and he liked how it seemed intimidating in a way. Well, as intimidating as hair could be.

He looked up and saw his wet chibi as he entered the room, and watched entranced as Ed dried himself off. To be truthful, Ed hadn't toweled off much in the bathroom and had taken the practice into his room instead. It was much too steamy in there; the heat was going to his head. And Envy sure didn't look like he minded.. Not at_ all.._

"As much as I like you slick and dripping, this is pretty fun to watch." Envy noted, making Ed blush to his roots. He kept on drying off as if Envy wasn't there, and moved to sit by him and towel off his dripping hair.

Envy got up after a moment and the blond didn't bother to watch him, so when the pale teen crawled back on the bed and behind him, he paused in his work and turned his head to cast a questioning look. He saw Envy flash his soft blue brush and pouted.

"So I can't do your hair but you can do mine?" He asked, pulling his towel down and letting it pile on his lap. Envy nodded wordlessly and took Ed's messy golden locks in his hand and proceeded to run the brush through them.

Ed sighed and turned back around properly so Envy could straighten his hair out, and he felt every muscle seem to relax under the careful ministrations in no time. This sort of quiet, gentle socializing was important to them. He had come to realize it when they lay down to nap together or ate in silence, just enjoying one another's company. It was proof to not only them, but others who happened to catch them, that their relationship was not based on lust. They knew it, but sometimes it's better to be reminded then to just go on with what you believe to know.

Envy moved the brush through Ed's hair like it was water. His hair was just so silky, it was easy to manipulate and straightened out with little resistance. Completely unlike his own. Envy found no pride in the fact that a regular brush could get caught in his hair and would take a sumo wrestler to get it out again. Well.. This was just another little thing that contrasted he and his blond..

With his golden mane lying light and fluffy against his neck and back, Ed was nearly relaxed to the point of sleepiness, but he managed to stay awake. He saw Envy set the brush down beside them, the long pale arm was hard to miss, and he smiled to himself as the same arm and another wrapped around his torso. The hands attached rested on his own, all four were lying on the towel in his lap.

Ed leaned back into the warm chest behind him and Envy left a small kiss on the flesh between his shoulder and neck. Resting his head on the same area, they sat in silence, with the sun streaming in behind them from the partially closed window.

"I want to just stay like this forever..." Ed whispered, closing his eyes. A tiny, peaceful smile graced his lips. He concentrated with little difficulty on the long, slow breaths of his lover. It was so tempting to just fall asleep like this, but the seemingly far off sounds of the rest of the world were persistent and tried to rouse the two back into liveliness.

It took quite some time.

* * *

Al hadn't said anything about the obvious marks, but Ed was still tense and looking more than guilty. Every time his brother's gaze fell on him ("Niisan, could you hand me that salt please?"), he froze and his eyes widened, lips thin and the perfect picture of a kid caught in the cookie jar. 

He was helping Al make himself and Envy omelets, since Al himself had eaten long ago. After a quick notifying of the house guard, Envy had been sent just a few minutes ago to the small store near the house ("Aww, why me?"), he'd nearly stumbled when Ed pushed him out the door (and predictably, he'd left with a sulky expression and managed to maintain it all the way to the store).

Ed wanted some time alone with Al, where he knew Envy wouldn't be able to overhear. He just didn't know how to start the conversation.

He and Al hadn't really talked about his and Envy's relationship, the topic just seemed to be postponed more and more. But Ed desperately needed to talk to Al, and since Envy was still restrained to the house, there wasn't really a time where he could talk to his brother without Envy overhearing. He just wanted it to be him and Al for this discussion (Envy wasn't the best with restraint, as they all knew).

'Well.. Here goes..' Ed thought.

"Alu? Can I ask you something?" Ed tried, and sat down on the chair, ready for any ingredient requests Al might add in to the discussion. The younger boy voiced an affirmative, and continued to collect his breakfast materials on the raised platform of his chair.

"What do you.. think of me and Envy?" That was really all he could ask, he waited for Al's response before he wanted to elaborate. Al put down the jug of milk slowly and began to prepare the omelets.

"I've accepted this as your choice, Niisan. I'm not going to stop you."

"Yes, but what do you _think?_ Are you really okay with us.. being together?" Ed asked, a little more urgency in his voice. Al looked at him over his shoulder.

"Envy seems to really care about you. And you seem to really care back. I'm still feel a little odd about your.. preference, but I want you to be happy. I guess you could say that I'm a little indifferent about it." He turned back to his task. To be truthful, he really didn't feel any less love for his brother, but it still made him uncomfortable to think of the things Ed would have to go through because of his choice. He was worried for his brother.

Ed sensed the feelings, he knew his brother too well. He got up out of his seat and put his hands on the back of Al's wheelchair. "You don't have to worry about me; Envy swore he was always going to be here for me." Al smiled at the words and Ed couldn't read him very well after that, he sort of shut off. After a moment, and a mixed bowl of ingredients, Al spoke again.

"I'll admit.. I feel a little left out. You and Envy spend a lot of time together.. I sort of wish we could as well." He said slowly, measuring his words. "Not in the same way of course.." He added hastily after a second.

Ed nodded, suddenly feeling a little guilty. "Alright. I'm sorry if I haven't been paying much attention to you, Alu, you know things have been a little hectic lately." Al quickly agreed, and they chatted about plans to go out and do something, maybe see a movie or go out for dinner. Ed knew Al was especially fond of eating out, it wasn't just spending quality time with his older brother... He didn't have to cook. (AN: Who thought I was gonna say something sappy? Nyaa!)

Envy came back with the eggs to a vivid discussion of times and places, and although he couldn't help but feel a little jealous, he kept quiet for his own good.

Ed was mulling over some touristy-type brochures Al had collected when they first moved in a few months ago. The younger boy had mentioned going some place more traditional to Japan, since they had been living a mostly Americanized life-style since they'd gotten here. He seemed very excited by the idea of eating in a real Japanese restaurant, and had subtly hinted that he wasn't too thrilled at not being able to go to one yet.

"So, do you think we should go tonight? Maybe not, since it would be Saturday night, everything would be packed."

"Well Niisan, I do remember reading about a small place over by-"

Envy tuned out the conversation with a dull expression and slumped into the kitchen chair, hair falling around him like a curtain. It didn't concern him, so why bother listening? Besides, he'd get compensation from Ed for the two of them leaving him all alone tonight in any case..

The phone rung cheerfully and Al turned in his chair instinctually at the sound, stopping his discussion and silently urging someone to pick it up. Ed went to go pick up the phone but stopped with a twitching eye as Envy reached over from his seat and picked it up with a deadtone expression.

"_Naaaani..."_ Envy slurred lazily into the phone. (Trans: "What?" Sorry, but English just doesn't slur the same way..)

Ed's jaw dropped and he tried glaring at the slouching teen for answering the phone so rudely, but was quickly shocked out of it when Envy jumped forward suddenly and looked like a kid at Christmas.

Ed glanced at Al as whoever was speaking was apparently keeping the wild teen in a complete verbal gridlock. Envy was clutching the phone so tightly that both blondes had to wonder just how much longer it would hold under the pressure.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, does this start now! Can I go out the second I hang up or something?"

Ed leaned in towards Al and whispered, "Do you think that's the police? Judging by his reactions, I think they're lifting the security.." Al nodded and replied, "Yeah, I doubt much would make him that excited." Ed nodded seriously and watched the teen who was looking more and more like he wanted to dance. "He's been border-line lethargic the last little while; he's really like a caged animal in here." Al "hmm hmm"ed with his eyes closed. "I agree. Anyone with enough energy to ride a motor bike must be the type who can't stay inside all the time."

The slamming of the poor abused phone cut off their suspicious-looking whispered conversation, and Envy turned towards the two brothers with giant shimmering stars in his eyes.

"They say they're lifting the house arrest and guards... I can go out.. and do whatever I want again..." His voice was dreamy and his face locked in airy happiness and disbelief, creeping out both Al and Ed as well as the author and all the people reading this.

"Really? They don't think you're in danger anymore?" Ed said, breaking the comical scene into a more realistic one. Envy grinned widely and jumped up in a flash, whipping his hair back with almost dramatic amounts of energy.

"I have to check in at the station every few days or something, and I have to bring that dragon-sensor thing or whatever it is anywhere I go. **But I can go out again**!" He pumped his arm into the air and ran out of the kitchen in a flurry of green, racing around until he found the front door.

"Envy! I'm making breakfast for you two!" Al protested loudly, but Envy was gone. Looong gone.

"Maybe he's _too_ much like a caged animal here.." Ed muttered. Al slapped at a random ant skittering along the counter and sighed moodily.

* * *

"WHOOO HOOO!" 

The strangled roaring of a long-over-abused engine pretty much tore the rest of the world's noises down and ate them for breakfast. After the noise bucket that was Envy's tortured and slaving motorcycle went by, anyone who had been unfortunate enough to be there swore the city suddenly went silent.

There was definitely indescribable joy written all over Envy's face, and even though he didn't have his dragon pendant, he couldn't care less.

He was free!

The air was crisp, cooler then Envy liked but the rush was enough to make him forget about it entirely. He watched with fascination as all the trees' many colors (golds, reds, yellows..) blended together and added to the chaotic tapestry that ran all around him for his eyes to feast.

Autumn was so much more fun at a hundred miles an hour...

It wasn't until a good hour or two later that he called Ed's house and mentioned he would be back late. Very late.

* * *

Sin High 

Chapter 23 - At the Beginning - Act 2

* * *

(Due to a massivewriter's block on the restaurant and what Envy was doing all night, there is an emergency time-skip two days later to Monday. Sorry, but be happy, else who knows how much longer this chapter would have taken ) 

Havoc's voice silenced and hung in the crisp air as a small, hesitant knock sounded by the door. Jean, the student closest to said door, got up and opened it with a disapproving grunt. He, along with the rest of the class-No, the school, did not want to be doing much moving right now.

The school's heating system was broken.

Envy and Ed, very much late to class, stumbled in and muttered their apologies (well, Ed did at least). They looked chilled enough and gratefully sat in their respective seats if only to just sit on their numb hands.

"Alright, now that you've joined us, please turn to page forty-seven, we're doing review." Havoc said in a bored tone. The colder days weren't bothering him, but his class was more focused on keeping warm then on his lessons. He had no doubt that the school would be closed down temporarily for repairs if the heating problem wasn't fixed soon.

A little while into the class, about half period, Envy slipped a hand past Ed and under the blonde's resting one, pulling back to allow him to notice the small letter left there. He discreetly unfolded it over his lap so Havoc wouldn't see, and read the untidy scrawl inside.

_yo pass this to Ed when you're finished._

_Havoc told us round the start of class that there's some big market thing comin up for all the business classes._

_it's on the 13th, and the whole school's getting the afternoon off to look around. you buy stuff and shit like that or something._

_Duo has Falman for business, so he's gonna have to sell stuff too, be ready for when he tries to rope you in to help out. avoid at all costs. (lol)_

_by the way, what'd you do to Ed, you molester? he looks like he got punched in the face repeatedly. keep your hickeys where he can hide em, weirdo._

_sees ya,_

_Marcus_

Ed sweatdropped first at the unwillingness to help a friend, and then again at the hickey comment. He turned and raised an eyebrow at the tall boy, who knocked a knuckle against his temple in return with a grin. Ed sighed.

There was some truth to the comment, Ed had to admit, Envy's marks from Saturday hadn't finished healing, and since then, he'd given him even more. The bunch along his lower jaw were particularly bad, and he'd noticed the glances his way. Most of the people in the class knew the bruises for what they were however, making it all the more embarrassing.

He flipped the paper over (previously all nice and neatly folded) and added something to pass back to his lover.

-Envy, why don't we just offer to help? Can't hurt. Maybe we can get a cut of the profits. Hehe.  
And I agree with what Marcus said, it's really embarrassing to have all these bruises showing. I told you not to put them so high.  
Love/Hugs

Edo-

He read the small note over and gained a flat look at the last part. Love/Hugs? Damn.. You'd think he was a schoolgirl. He blackened out the ink by scribbling over it repeatedly, then folded up the note again and slid it back to Envy.

Upon receiving the note, Envy's eyes darted over the words, but what caught his interest was the blacken-out part. Hmm.. What had Ed not wanted him to see?

Being the notoriously curious guy he was, he flipped the paper over and peered at the spot where the scribbling on the other side would be, taking a moment to try and make out the shallow dents where the words would become visible. After about two minutes of this, he was finally able to read Love/Hugs.

He stared.

Aww...

* * *

Havoc had pulled a surprise pop-quiz on the class half-an-hour before class ended (hence the suspiciously-time review), and with groaning, the students set to the unwanted work. Envy, as usual, adorned his headphones and mp3-player (hard to run a cheat market when all you could hear was blasting music). It was simple and short, so there was abut ten minutes left for the teens to do as they please once the majority of the class was done. 

"-do them. Honestly, I'll have to start wearing a scarf to class if you keep it up." Ed was lecturing Envy, and Marcus was listening with great amusement.

"Hey, just don't let him give you hickeys, problem solved." He joked, though he wasn't trying to persuade anyone. He didn't give half a damn either way.

Ed gave the black-haired teen a flat look and commented on how it would be impossible.

"Damn straight. This one here is too kissable to be left unmarred." Envy said cheekily and started playing with Ed's bangs from his seat. He'd already been refused when he'd requested Ed to sit in his lap, but he wasn't about to be deterred from touching him _somehow_.

"Kissable... ch..." Ed snorted, pouting a bit at the term used. Marcus rolled his eyes and muttered something about "sickly sweet" and leaned back in his chair. Unlike most of the class who were still huddling up due to the cold, Marcus didn't feel the temperature and to all appearances, looked like he was going to sleep the last few minutes of class away.

"Aww, we scared him." Envy smirked, and leaned forward to steal a taste of his blonde. Ed copied the leaning, direction and all, saying that he didn't want to kiss in class.

Envy had his head down on his folded arms and semi-glared for the rest of the period.

* * *

Second period wasn't much fun (especially for Envy with his 'terror of a teacher' Archer), and lunch was spent with most of the school either leaving for a slightly warmer place (the nearby cafes and food stops were filled to the brim with students), or got their food from the cafeteria and left quickly. The weather had pulled it's famous unpredictable act over the last few days, and it seemed to get cooler by the hour. The cafeteria was freezing, and no one wanted to be in there. 

Ed and Envy spent their lunch curled up together near their lockers.

But, something rather interesting happened for third period, breaking the over-all boring Monday. Marco's class, our two lovers' third period, was being temporarily moved out of the room.

"Hey! I heard it's so cold in Marco's class, everyone in there for the morning was sent home sick!"

Rumors and all-out lies were jumping back and forth around the class as Marco led the way to the old drama room (someone mentioned that a freezer in the next room exploded). They only had to go down one floor, but cold feet meant slow feet, and everyone was taking their dear-sweet time. Marco, patient by nature, tolerated it.

Upon arriving to the room, half the class was shocked at it's appearance. The other half, used to it since they'd actually **taken** the class at some point, was able to find the best seating first.

The room was pretty fair-sized, easily able to hold a class of about fifty, and still have a big area for acts to be practiced. There were cardboard sets lying against every wall, props lying everywhere, and half the seats in the room were actually couches. Kei and Envy bee-lined for one of them, the latter dragging an awe-struck Ed.

Envy crashed on the right side of the dark-green furniture, and Kei took the left. Ed sat down in between them, but was dragged over to sit on Envy's lap in seconds (much to his argument, he even tried struggling a bit, but stopped when it was granting him some raised eyebrows).

"Envy.. Why are you doing this?" Ed hissed, blushing madly and trying to keep his face away from the class.

"You are my drug.." Was all that got slurred into his ear, and he growled a bit, signaling his disagreement. In the end, the little spat didn't go anywhere, and Ed was stationed comfortably between Envy's legs and leaning back on him, thankful for the warmth despite.

The class looked up at Marco when he spoke, using his usual deep and slow tone as he went around the class handing out papers.

"These are study sheets for a test tomorrow. Please do them now; it is the best use of your time. If you misuse it, that is up to you. Anyone who fails the test tomorrow will have a detention with me, and will rewrite the test."

The usual set of groans (A/N: What a bunch of whiners, my classes don't do that! XD), and plenty of muttering when the study sheets were actually more like study booklets. Three-pages, double-sided.

When Envy received his booklet, he immediately stuck it on top of his bag beside the couch. Heh, like as if **he** was going to do work when he didn't need to.

"Better to do that now, you'll have to do it for homework later you know." Ed mentioned half-heartedly. Boyfriend or no, Ed rarely influenced Envy's academic decisions. _He,_ for one, was finding some of the math to be difficult, and had decided to take the reviews and study-sessions seriously.

"Mou, save it for later, we can do them at your house..." Envy whined. His throat was resting on the top of Ed's head, and his fingers were playing with the tips of Ed's jacket. He'd have killed right then and there to be granted permission to slip his hands _under_ said jacket, and the under-lying shirt. You know, for _warmth _and all that or something...

Hmm... But then again… He was being a _liiittle _too obedient today...

Ed was about to reply to the suggestion to procrastinate, but when cool fingers started prodding at the skin on his sides, he quickly crossed his arms and grabbed each of Envy's wandering hands in each, pulling them out and keeping them enclosed in his restricting ones.

"Envy, not _here."_ He hissed. The older teen bent his head, whispering just loud enough for the blond to hear; "I was so _lonely_ last night... And you know they say 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder"..."

Ed frowned and muttered back. Envy had been out all Saturday night, thanks to his sudden releasing unto the unsuspecting world again. On Sunday, he'd mentioned that he was going to go back home. He'd explained that he felt like a freeloader since Hohenheim refused to let him pay for anything, and that he really needed to get back to his own place anyways. His only regret was that his favorite thing had to be left back at Ed's house, which was Ed himself. The Sunday night had been long for both him, and Ed.

Ed had noticed that falling asleep that night had taken a while, his bed was much colder just by himself. But he knew that wasn't all the problem.. It was the lack of a very important presence that deterred him from nodding off.

Envy's soft, but deep breathing. He'd fallen asleep to that for what seemed like a long, long time now. His warmth, it kept him warm not just in the flesh, but in the heart. He loved how the older male's arms would wrap around him possessively, warning off the shadows around them. It was endearing, Envy wasn't even awake half the time Ed caught the older male wrapping him up.

Envy was obviously feeling some sort of strong lacking as well, since Ed had noticed the unusually high need to feel him somehow throughout the day. More than usual, and even when the touch was small, insignificant. Maybe it was because Envy was such a physical person, but there was a definite problem presented to them since their nightly close contact was cut so suddenly.

Envy wouldn't stay with him and Al in his house, and even if he'd wanted to, he may be over-staying his welcome with their father. The wild teen's stay had only been for his recovery from the shock after being raped. Now, it would merely be preference. Besides... Ed knew perfectly well that he and Envy were making Al uncomfortable.

And so, since Envy couldn't stay at Ed's house, and Ed wouldn't leave his brother to stay at Envy's house, they were in a fix and the problems were only just emerging.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder _indeed. _And it did wonders on the psyche of two very-much-hormonal teens as well.

-0-

Back to the scene at hand however, Envy was trying to nibble on Ed's ear, and the blond was squirming and hissing hushed commands for him to cut it out.

"Edo... I'm _really really_ not liking this whole set-up we have... Just come live over at my house, I can support you easily!"

"Dammit, Envy, I told you I'm not going to leave my brother.." Ed snapped. He hadn't meant to, but he was feeling just a little bit...

"Someone's pissy.." Envy said silkily, losing some of his playful edge however. He may have been a little.. over-zealous all day, but Ed had seemed to be in a rather bad mood.

"I didn't get to sleep last night until really late. Sorry for being a little deprived." He felt a little bad, and he relaxed into the body behind him. He knew it was because of Envy not being with him last night (or on Saturday night for that matter), and if the green-haired teen's new silence was anything to go by, he was following the same train of thought.

At the same time, much to both of their embarrassment, "This sucks" was uttered from both mouths. Kei, on the other side of the couch, raised an eyebrow but didn't look away from his math problems.

"Here, we'll figure this out later. Let me finish these sheets, and behave yourself for the rest of the class. When we meet up again after fourth, I'll.. I'll go over to your house for a few hours. But you let me go home afterwards without any problems, okay?" He tapped Envy's hand with his finger gently, and noticed that he was still holding them captured. His mind turned over to the chills racing up his back as Envy whispered, _"Okay..." _in his ear and lay back slowly. Good enough for him, Ed hadn't been over to his house since becoming so close. He was sure to have some **fun**.

In a few minutes, Ed was scratching down numbers and equations in his booklet, comfortably nestled with Envy and tuning out everything but the problems in front of him.

Math and life-wise.

* * *

Al was in the kitchen rushing around for food items. He was on the phone with his father, and apparently (to Al's great joy), he was coming home that night for the start of a two-week work period to be done in the home. He'd just gotten off the phone with Ed, and he was a little panicky at having to do the whole dinner by himself in the amount of time he had before his father came home. But he wasn't about to call Ed back, he didn't want to ruin whatever fun his brother planned on having (to be honest, he couldn't, Ed had called from the school payphone. But he didn't think that far). 

He chatted with his father and rushed about as fast as his wheels would let him, determined to finish yet another great meal. Just today, in home economics, he'd been suggested by the teacher to consider a career involving food preparation.

Spurred on by the inspiring words and cute fantasies of becoming a world-famous chef, Al set to make the dinner, and, after a while, came to think of it as a challenge. As his father mentioned at one point (Al was boiling potatoes during said point), he had become independent enough to do anything if he put his mind to it.

Despite the lack of help, he would succeed!

Good thing Al was so good at improvising, all the stuff on the top shelves were pretty high up when one was sitting down (albeit on a raise-platform chair).

A meter stick had a million purposes when used correctly.

* * *

**Kit: **.. That last part is really random.  
**Cat: **I didn't want Hoho-baby to just spontaneously pop out of the next chapter. So there.  
**Kit: **Alright, your story...  
**Cat: **Oh, turn of discussion, for all those interested, here's a sweet fanart by Kiellne, it's one of the last scenes in chapter 19 where Envy was all pissed off at Archer and leaned back on Ed for the lunch period. See it here at:  
**http(colonslashslash)www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)view(slash)34357755**

As an additional note, I have been meaning to mention some technical fact not a whole lot of people probably care about. Central Tokyo, where this is all set in, as well as Japan in this story are actually very AU-ish. Central Tokyo is sort of my own mulched up version of a city **based** on Tokyo, and I claim it as such since I'm not really taking much efforts to make anything Japanese. It's probably not all that naturally-coming for this sort of story since FMA isn't set in a Japanese environment, despite being in Japanese originally (language-wise). So, in conclusion (fuck... essay word ), in this story; Japan, Central Tokyo, schools/buildings, educational and police systems, some name-terms, speech and clothing/fashion styles, and a whole lot of other boring shit, is ALL with various degrees of westernization with a little imagination on my part, and then set in Central Tokyo, which is based on the real Tokyo. Things like the traditional Japanese restaurant that Al and Ed went to in this chapter are just some of the parts of real Tokyo that I don't mess with. Central Tokyo is a lot like modern-today Tokyo, just... Waaaaay more Americanized.

In the end, it's just one major confusing mass of lack of upholding on my part. Please ignore it, it's not important. Peace.

* * *

Gifts and Notes forgotten in last/past chapters (sorry guys!)  
Ice cubes, Ice cream and large Kadaji/Cloud plushies, Cure for Breast Cancer, Alter!Envy (whose conveniently a Nazi), Hitler's car, Alter!Edward, Magical shovel that covers plot holes, Evil Rubber Ducky, Enormous chocolate, Wolf-Envy for Kit (**Kit:** Uhh.. Guys? What do I do with it? (scared)), Cat-Ed for Cat (KITTY!), Fox-Pride!Ed for whoever gets to him first! (**Seira:** **_MINE!)_**, 500 pounds of fresh catnip! 

Hope Rising: Long-live HR and her hilarious crack-reviews! Sin High's First Lemon Gone Wrong:  
"Ed: Wait... you put that WHERE?  
Envy: C'mon, it's not THAT bad.  
Ed: It's not "insert penis A into ass B" and you're done! You're trying to test me for colon cancer with your dick!  
Envy: Ed... (at this point, Ed is looking for a way out of it)  
Ed: Wait! I'M ON MY PERIOD! ...Is that condom glowing!  
Later:(bed squeaking)... (Ed falls off)... (repositions, start again)... (Envy falls off)... (duct tape torsos together, try again)... (finally succeed, Al wheels in)... (traumatized)  
Envy: (sob) YOU ARE THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS, ALPHONSE!  
Ed: No, no, the Prince of Darkness does not vacuum the ceiling."

* * *

What does Envy plan on doing to our poor, unsuspecting (yeah right) chibi? Is Hohenheim going to help matters any? Will Duo manage to hook the lovers into helping him with his market project? How the hell should you know? 

Find out in the next chapter of

Sin High!

* * *

**Goal:** Reduce ANs. **Chance of succeeding:** (laughter) 


	24. Gravity of Love

**Cat:** T.T  
**Kit: **Why are YOU crying? The readers should cry for having such a procrastination-prone author.  
**Cat: **T.T I'mma horrible author... T.T  
**Seira:** (scrambling) Everyone has they're bad times! Don't give up!  
**Cat:** I'm gonna try my hardest to make this the longest chapter in the whole story (looks at scroll bar) I'm gonna double what I wrote so far..  
**Kit:** Anywho... Gundam?  
**Cat:** Oh Yeah! Guess what Wing fans, I'm starting to watch GW, and now I'll know who a couple of my OCs are! When Duo came on screen I squealed...  
**Kit:** It was shrill-like and very scary.  
**Cat:** XD I have no idea what to make of Heero, I had in my mind a typical stoic.. Like Sousuke with a more colourful M9... 'Parently not..  
**Kit:** Caaaat...  
**Cat:** Moving On: D  
**Seira:** Let's ROLL!

**Cat Got:  
**Giant Cookies, Random box of randomness, Envy's motorcycle (**Cat: **OH HELL YEAH!), Envy pulshie, Lovely gold medal, Charms of my OCs (Marcus, Duo, Kei, and the evil Greed), BANANA PHONE w/ "Peanut Butter Jelly Time!" RING TONE, Ed plushie with a black sock binding its arms, Sock which was used to tie up Edo (**Cat:** Oh Eeeeeddoooo...), Rice pudding, Ed's outfit in Ed's New Groove, Picture of Ed in Ed's New Groove, All the ingredients for a sexy cake (**Cat: **Mmm... minced Edo... **OH FUCK!)**, Picture of Ed's glorious backside, Mansion that has in each room the complete wardrobe of each and every character in FMA, First ever stray cat that Al hid in his armor, Fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies, FMA Tarrot cards, Chocolate trophy with a lemon on it, Clone of our dear little Edo, Gawain's little brother Viktor, Packets of Ed and Envy flavored Pocky (Cat: ... O.O ... (sneaks off)), Paper machee gargoyle (Hey, lawl, I have a giant paper mache flying rat this guy's gonna like XD), Raisins, Donut holes, Lettuce for your bunny, A purple spork, Chocolate mousse strawberry cake made by Fuzzy, Several copies of Kai's photo (Attempts to draw and fails miserbly), A rock (It shall be my Rockie and I shall name him Rockie.), A yellow rose, (And the following from Echoing Raidiance:)(To the author only) FMA complete series boxset, FMA pendant necklace, Envy's headband, Lot and LOTS of unbroken pencils, Ice cream, FMA pocket watch, A laptop (with wireless internet connection), 6 FMA movie posters, The movie itself, Pocky (**Cat:** Every author's vital life-... thing..), FMA 2006 calander, A one-shot EdxEnvy songfic to song of your choice, Box o' chocolates, Bug repelant (**Cat:** YES! More ammunition in my fight against evil! ... aka MOSQUITOS!), Chibi doll of Ed, Chibi doll of Envy, A mutilated doll that just happened to resemble Greed..., FMA dog/cat tag, A ball of mysterious glowing fluff, Al, chibi human wheelchair form, Ed, Envy. (For the muses only) Earplugs (**Kit:** THANK YOU. - **Cat:** T.T), Cookies of the FMA cast, Laptops (with wireless internet connection), More weird glowing fluff, A dog named Bob, A pet rock named Gerald. (To Seira only) A gold watch, Many many gold and silver bracelets and other jewelry like contraptions that look pretty, A Sora plushy, an I.O.U note. (**Seira:** I... (sobbing) I FEEL SO LOVED! THANK YOU!)

Notes:  
Snowbluerat: ALL AND EVERY SINGLE REVIEW MATTERS TO ME. I love you all! (glomp)  
Hope Rising: Quoting again the hilarious HR:  
"...There is no way I was the only person who thought of someone singing "I'm the only gay Eskimo" during the heater-crash bit."  
-I was planning on delving into my OCs a bit, though not overly so since I don't want to distract myself. :3 Thanks for the encouragement though, now I don't feel so awkward about using OCs (where previously, I really did XD).  
Indome: Aww, it's okay everything's all good! And about the AN note, thanks! XD I guess I won't mess with them if that's the case!  
-You were very much correct in your analysis of the lemon, I hadn't quite caught the hang of lemons yet, but I've.. "practiced" quite a bit since then, and I went back and rewrote/added to it, and to tell you the truth... I REALLY like it a lot better now! Thank you ever so much for your criticism!  
Lost Alchemist: I'm not sure how much more I'll be adding to the boys' pasts, but I guess we'll be seeing in due time!  
Sora Chi Kaminari: Thanks very much:3 Oh, I like Greed, but he makes SUCH a great badguy! XD  
Sir Gawain of Camelot: -(Shot for giving away Mao rule) oops... Oh well, the world will now have more players at least! XD (I don't go for wasabi... Kitty very scared of anything hot or spicy or related O.o (Kit: Coward..)) - Yup, lawl, the crowd is pretty cool, and the girls too XD ('Specially Tia.. She's based on a collage of real people XD)  
-Yeah, police usually suck, but I try to give them some credit... Shh... Don't tell..  
-I don't think I'll be adding any more Sins, but you never know!  
-I haven't forgotten the mirror, I've just been waiting for the "Opportune Moment". (PoTC freak) XD And big thanks about the ANs, along with you and a few others, I had no idea mine were so popular XD Who knew? (I'm special? WHEEEEE! XD)  
Oh, Greed's coming back, no worries about that...  
-Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy the chappie!  
echoing radience: Wow! Thanks for all the reviews! (crying) So there ARE still people out there who'll review old chapters! I feel a whole new wave of appreciation! XD Thanks for all the gifts, me and the crew (**Kit:** Grammar.. - **Cat:** Shut up..) are having a ball with all this stuff XD As for the oneshot, you choose, I'm happy with whatever song you choose:3  
1. **Chapter 1, as well as chapter 22 (the one with the lemon in it), have both been _partially_ rewritten. Heads up.  
**2. I've been updating my site recently, and amongst the update, is a full Paku Romi album (Boku to kimi to Hatenaki Sora), for all those of you who love Edo's voice :3 Also amongst them is my re-done version of the 2nd Ending video, only... It's Paku Romi singing! XD **(expxe(dot)com)  
**3. Thanks KatYoukai, for the lovely fanart! See it at** http(colon slash slash)www(dot)expxe(dot)com(slash)GiftKY(dot).bmp  
**4. For those of you in Toronto or near it that went to Anime North just a little while ago, I forgot to mention I went there! Heh, if anyone saw a Pride-cosplayer walking around (the taller one, there was two), guess what.. That was me:3  
(It is IMPOSSIBLE to get all of Pride's markings correctly.. I swear.. damn little sexy-swirly _bastards_...)

**Cat:** ...  
**Kit:** And, THIS is why we don't take two months to update.  
**Cat: **T.T Why are my ANs cumulative! Why!

**

* * *

**

Sin High

Chapter 24 - Gravity of Love - Act 1

Enigma  
Turn around, and smell what you don't see.  
Close your eyes... it is so clear.  
-  
Try to think about it...  
That's the chance to live your life! And discover;  
What it is, what's the **Gravity of Love!  
**_...O fortuna...  
__...Velut Luna..._

**

* * *

**

As Al raced against time (and logic) in the kitchen in a desperate attempt to fix an award-winning dinner before Hohenheim got home, a less rushed group of people were making their way to a certain wild-haired teen's house.

Though the mile-per-hour factor may make some people wonder about how "less rushed" said group was.

Duo banked sharply around the corner of the winding backstreets, looking in his mirror to see the bigger, heavier bike that carried Marcus and Kei. His leaner, speedier blue bike was much like Envy's and it suited him well, being a more petit rider. Marcus' huge black monstrosity-of-a-Harley was the monster truck of motorcycles, and was more than able to carry him and a second rider, or even a third if he tried hard enough (which was why Kei always went with him when any of them were going out, that and the fact that Envy's bike (also able to take two) was usually driven like a slave and tended to horrify him).

With a small toothy grin he swerved dangerously, showing off, and eventually slowed down until he was level with the pair, shouting something about "crawling instead of driving".

"'Least I don't skitter over the road like a rat!" Marcus shouted back, ignoring the laughter coming from the teen behind him.

A few more turns and streets brought them to the long set of houses that was Envy's street. They pulled into the driveway and Duo hopped off his bike and turned it off just before opening the garage like he owned it. While the other two dealt with their machines, Kei trotted lightly up the steps to the door of the house, trying the handle to find it unlocked. Least he didn't have to use the key this time.

Walking in brought him to the same poorly-cared for entrance that he'd entered many times before, lead to the same scarcely-minded kitchen that he's eaten in many times before. Sided with the same messy living room he'd hung out in so many times before. Heard the same loud moaning and cries of "Envy!" that he'd-

". . ."

With a raised eyebrow, Kei cocked his head a bit and gave the ceiling a "look" as if silently scolding it for the noise. Apparently, he, Marcus, and Duo had come at a bad time... They should have stayed at the cafe for another hour...

.. or three.

"Hey, what's the hold u- ooohhhh..." Duo had gone to poke the motionless teen when he heard the noises coming from upstairs and pretty much copied the older male, though he was listening with more interest than awkwardness.

"What's up you two?" Sound got its third victim and the tallest male of the three sweatdropped in realization of what they'd barged into.

Normally, such a dilemma would have proper action taken and the three young men would have left, possibly hung outside until the 'sacred act of love' was complete. But, considering none of the three were ones to take proper action (or be the minority and forced not to), the coupling going on upstairs were completely unaware of its audience just one floor below.

-0-

"-him. Then this punk kid comes up and he's like, "You able to handle that thing? Maybe you should stick to bicycles", or something like that, so I roundhouse that snot in the face and he's down like a ton of potatoes!" Duo ran off, proud of his little accomplishment for the day. He took a slice of pizza from the box they'd ordered, and fell silent in wait for the next topic of discussion to emerge.

It wasn't overly hard after the first twenty minutes or so to ignore whatever was going on upstairs, and a more-or-less normal conversation was over-lapping the events above. True, every once in a while, who could only be assumed was Ed started to vocalize louder than usual and it was hard to ignore, but the three did their best. Duo's various jokes and immature sing-songs about what Envy must be doing to Ed seemed to amuse only him, Kei smiled to humor him, and Marcus flat-out ignored him. He was good when it came to tuning things out, he was usually the one Envy chose to rant to.

"... Is he using a whip?" Marcus said suddenly, as the pause between talking conveyed a suspicious snapping noise from the occupants upstairs. Furrowed eyebrows sent a message to no one.

"Mmm... I think that's a belt... Heero used one on me once, I wish he'd do it more often." Duo mentioned off-handedly. Kei chucked and slouched in the armchair some more, while Marcus leaned forward from the second couch opposite to the one Duo was seated in.

"You know, that guy creeps me out. He's too quiet. He's like your polar opposite; it's surprising that you two are together." He mentioned, wagging his pizza crust at the smaller teen. Duo started laughing and blurted, "Opposites attract! Man, even Envy and the kid up there proved it!"

The black-haired teen shrugged and leaned back, mumbling, "Damn, half the guys I hang out with the most are gay. Nothin' wrong with that, but if I start wagging my eyes at Kei here, kill me, alright?"

"Ah don't sink my gurlfriend vould like you much if you did, eh?" The slouching teen replied lightly, grinning in good humor. The teen's accent was lighter than normal because of his staying over at Duo's house for the past two days, and not speaking his other two languages did wonders for Japanese clarity.

"Yeah, well, mine would kill me if I were to be checking other people out. And she'd **castrate **me first if it was guys I was after." Marcus winced at his own confession.

After blinking a few times at the series of bumps coming from the ceiling (evidence of a vicious wrestling match), Duo shot back an indignant accusation of his own. "You say my Heero creeps you out, but your Lucy outright scares me!"

"What? Why!"

Both Kei and Duo gave the teen flat looks. "Lucy", who lived about ten minutes away from Marcus as opposed to Kei's girlfriend back in Germany, was usually chipper and cheerful and constantly cuddling up to Marcus with the slightest inclination. But all three knew that should she get pissed off...

Marcus switched between the two teens' gazes and finally sighed. "Fine fine, she can be a little scary at times, give me a break. At least she _talks._" Duo loudly countered the pointed glance his way and the conversation went on, mostly keeping the attention on the first floor.

Eventually, the action upstairs quieted down, and Duo blew their cover by singing "Get Down Tonight" at the top of his lungs. Even though the English song was wasted on most of the house's occupants, it still got some indignant yelling from the more bashful teen on the second floor.

"What are you guys _doing _here!" Ed squawked from the top of the stairs. He'd had a somewhat rushed shower and was mostly dripping wet with a towel wrapped around his waist and a housecoat Envy hadn't worn in months covering himself up.

"I need to talk to Envy, this one here (gesture to Marcus) has to ask Envy if he can stay here for a few days, and this guy (gesture to Kei) is at my house for the week so he hasn't got much of a choice but to tag along." Duo explained, all smiles. The blond teen still looked upset as he marched stiffly down the stairs in his "just out of the shower" glory and glared at the three lounging teens when he reached the living room (with a bit less-than-agile stride).

"Envy may not care if you guys just let yourselves in at any given moment, but it bothers ME when we're.. uh.."

Duo fell over on his side and started laughing uncontrollably as Ed could only glare and blush, and the other two teens didn't seen all that enthusiastic to keep his gaze, having a **little** more shame then Duo did. Eventually, Envy trotted down the stairs looking happy as rain with nothing but a white towel around his waist and slammed into the couch beside Marcus.

"Ooh! Pizza! Don't mind if I do!" He chirped, grabbing a slice from each of the two large pizzas and settling back with one in each hand. Ed grumpily took a seat beside Duo and looked at the pizza.

"Have some, don't be shy!" Duo said cheerfully, and clapped him on the shoulder. His grin turned a slight bit more nervous when he received a golden glare of death, and Ed replied with a low, "My brother is making a big dinner, I'm not going to ruin my appetite."

"Suit yourself." Another slice fell victim to Duo's unending hunger.

"So, what's the big show-up for? Did the results come back and you all came to tell me Edo will be carrying my child?" Envy asked around his mouthful of food. Duo predictably cracked up the most at the question, and Ed was obviously the most embarrassed.

"Naw, gotta wait a bit longer. I need to recruit you for my marketing project. Wanna help me sell movies and video games?" The short teen seemed pretty eager, and he was leaning a bit over the edge of the couch in said eagerness while keeping Envy caught in a horrible chibi-eyed-questioning-face-of-doom sort of situation. Ed felt the wicked temptation of nudging him just enough so that he'd fall face-first into the table as payback for all his teasing.

Thankfully he didn't, and the "tension" rose as Envy seemed to ponder over-dramatically about the idea. "What's in it for me?" He replied slyly.

Duo bounced a bit in his spot as he felt Envy take the hook and he said enthusiastically that, "Everyone who helps out gets twenty percent of the profits!" The wild teen seemed to ponder a slight bit more, and Duo continued with, "I just want to get rid of all my old movies and games and crap, so I need lots of help!"

"Who else is helping out?"

"So far, hopefully you."

".. Really."

"Yeah."

Envy smirked and drawled, "I'm in, but we'll split the money half-way, and I'll add all my old shit too, 'k?" The prospect of having nearly three times the amount of stuff to sell seemed too good to be true to the shorter teen, and a partnership was soon formed, Ed getting reeled in at some point.

"Yo, now that Duo's successfully conned you, lend a brother a room for a few days?" Marcus asked, grinning slightly to the teen beside him. Envy raised an eyebrow and replied with, "You get into another fight with your old man? Or are you hiding from Lucy again?"

"My Pa, just some dumb shit about college. You mind though?" Envy shrugged and Marcus sighed a breath of relief. Duo was his back-up, and although both him and Kei staying over wasn't a bother to the teen, he _certainly_ didn't want to be around when Duo's mom got home (she tended to be those excruciatingly over-excited flowery-type moms, who still insisted on bringing up orange juice and cookies at the most random of intervals).

"Envy, when I came over here for the first time, you said you didn't have people over often and that's why you don't clean up." Envy looked over at Ed lazily with a lopsided grin, and shrugged.

"They ain't people."

A few pairs of rolled eyes were followed with a thick, "Oh SO glad we mean so much to you."

Ed folded his arms and still appeared a little grumpy, but Duo slid over to him and swung an arm around his shoulder. "Hey, don't be embarrassed Edo-chan, you're not the only screamer here!" Wide eyes at the lack of shame caused the brown-haired teen to laugh, but Kei cut in before he could go further.

"If it bothars you when other people in sa house, then we will respect sis, right guys?" He pointedly looked at Marcus and Duo in turn, and then looked at Ed once more. "We will try to pick our timing better, this is okay?" The blond shrugged with a blush and looked away. He didn't want to get in between Envy and his friends, but he didn't like the idea of other people hearing them.

Envy drank in the picture of the blond blushing and trying to hide it, and he grinned from his place on the other couch. "Hehe, don't you just want to kiss him?" Marco turned his eyes up to the ceiling with an "Uhh.." sort of reply, and Envy elbowed him. "You better damn well not! I'd beat the shit out of you!"

"I don't want your boyfriend you moron."

"I know. But you're fun to mess with."

The five senior students whipped topics around, chatting about nothing in particular, including a series of complaints about the lack of heating in the school. Envy proudly announced that he wasn't going to school the next day because of the problem, and Ed predictably chided him for it. When the topic of Havoc's pop-quiz came about, Envy was reminded of his MP3-Player and hopped up to go find it. Upon returning, he handed it to Duo.

"Here, change the stuff, alright? Getting bored of that junk."

"Right, just the stuff I'm listening to like usual? Got lotsa deathmetal for you!" (AN: Despite my not knowing much about him, pun VERY intentional. XD)

Envy sunk back into the couch and nodded, waving off the player as a sort of dismissal. Ed gave his lover a skeptical look and mentioned that he should just learn to use his computer.

"You know, if you actually took the time to learn even the basics, you could even be talking online with me after school, then we wouldn't have that problem of being apart so bad." Ed mentioned. Marcus mumbled about, "sickly sweet love", but shut up when Envy bolted forward.

"That's not a bad idea! I heard about being able to talk to people using the internet or something like that! We can have cyber-sex!"

Silence.

"That's... not exactly what I had in mind, but in any case, I think it would be a good idea to set your computer up at least." The blond muttered, and Duo kicked in that he'd be happy to set it up.

"But, you don't have a computer, do you? I didn't see one in your room." Envy mentioned, looking slightly puzzled. "I have a laptop, and it's usually in its case." Ed replied.

"Well, if you guys are SO addicted to each other, I guess I have no choice but to come to the rescue!" Duo said proudly. He received a sarcastic pat on the shoulder from Ed.

"Yes, yes, thank you ever so much, we are forever in your debt."

"That's more like it!"

**

* * *

**

As if Envy wasn't fast enough on his motorcycle, but when he was being pressured to _rush,_ it was all he needed to break records.

Quickly after the computer-discussion at Envy's house, Ed decided to check the time only to realize... He had to be home in ten minutes.

Now, Ed was a very punctual person, he despised being late, especially for his brother. He already felt guilty about not helping out with dinner knowing his father was coming home (and how happy and more out-going then usual Al would be). So when he told Envy to make the twenty-or-so minute gap between the lovers' homes halved, he took the opportunity with a side of bacon.

Roughly ten minutes after Ed realized what the time was, Envy was racing down his street, and suddenly pulled a trademark wild stunt, spinning around a full 180 degrees and coming to a stop right beside Hohenheim's car that had pulled in at the same time Envy stopped. Classic display of psychotic cyclists using their skidding abilities to further traumatize all those around them (and further abuse their poor machines).

The window of the old car rolled down slowly, revealing the shaggy face of Ed's father who's raised eyebrow made Envy grin slightly.

"I believe we would have gotten along very well had I been about thirty years younger. Now, if you'll please, I can't open the door with you there." He smiled warmly, chuckling just in the slightest. Envy looked down at Ed, whose hands were gripping the mid-bar so tightly that they were as white as his face.

"I.. can't move..." His teeth were chattering and Envy shrugged dramatically with his hands out.

"Oh! I guess I'll just have to race up and down the street some more then, won't I?"

Ed **flung** them both off the bike.

**

* * *

After a very twitchy and awkward hug (twitchy from his scarred nerves and awkward because of the near-by parent) followed by a more passionate kiss, Ed waved to Envy's shrinking form as he raced off down the street. Turning, he met his father's gaze. **

The last time the two had seen each other was when Hohenheim was literally tearing himself from the home, leaving for the airport to report back to his agency's base. Ed had been staring at him at the time, blank as paper. Those eyes had haunted the worried father during the three weeks he'd been away.

When he embraced his son with all the relief he truly felt, he knew he would have teared up had he been a more emotional man. Ed, sensing these feelings, went as far as to put aside his usual upset at the man and hug him back.

"I'm so glad you're alright now, Edward."

The blond didn't know how to reply, so he didn't.

**

* * *

**

The miracle-worker that was Al never ceased to amaze, and set out extravagantly and expecting was a feast worthy of a very modest king. Al, pleased with the turn-out at seven o'clock sharp as he'd expected, welcomed both father and brother with open arms and open heart.

The theme Al had picked for the dinner was a sort of wild spin on Italian-Japanese, with small portions of food from both halves, and plenty of dishes that incorporated both.

"So, how are you boys doing? The weather seems to have gotten much cooler since I've last been here." Hohenheim started conversationally. They'd all been seated and were in the process of serving themselves to the spread of delicious food.

Al was more than happy to launch off the events that their father had missed, though skipping most of what he deemed Ed would have wanted to share. Ed smiled a bit as he saw his brother so happy, and felt his guilt return at not helping with the feast. His gaze wandered over the dining room table and the many plates and bowls and cups, everything looking ever more presentable as the candles flickered and waved cheerily. The light in the middle of the ceiling was kept on "low", so the atmosphere was very peaceful.

"My, it seems like you've been busy Alphonse. Superb job on this dinner as well, it is an amazing meal. I'm very proud of you." Ed noticed how Al was avoiding the some topics, and he knew that he was being silently urged to report on them. He didn't quite feel like speaking of them yet, so he continued to listen with a little interest of the retelling of the past few weeks, and also when their father turned the conversation from the past to the future.

"I'll be working here for the next two weeks, though I hope to have my work finished efficiently enough so I may spend some time with you boys." He said warmly. "Perhaps there's someplace you two have wanted to go?"

An excited Al started up a flurry of suggestions for family outings, and Hohenheim listened and commented on each one. A few ideas were accepted generally and even a few plans made, but Ed couldn't avoid the topic turning to him after Al seemed to say most of what he'd wanted to.

"So, Edward. I haven't talked to you much since I last saw you. How are you feeling?" Both knew what the man was talking about, and, being more blunt than considerate was a tendency their father tended to have.

The blond shrugged and replied, "Everything is okay now. I'm dealing with it just fine." He glanced at his father to see if the answer was satisfactory. It was true, he was alright about the incident _now_, but the episodes where he'd apparently freaked out on Envy a few times were left out (like when he'd punched the bathroom mirror). That was what he wanted, since as he put it, 'Best keep those topics to as little amounts of people as possible. If it isn't remembered... It didn't happen.'

Little was added to the topic, but Hohenheim had asked a few questions before seeming satisfied. He was seeing Ed, more or less normal, with his own tired eyes. So he must be okay.

"And what about yourself and Envy? How are you two doing with your relationship?" Yup, blunt as usual.

Ed's fork screeched against his plate, but he tried to cover up and act normally. "Ah.. We're doing okay." He didn't want to talk to his father about how far they went, nor about the "locations problem" they were having. If their living apart was going to be a big issue, then he'd deal with it then. For now, he'd just have to hope that the internet and instant messaging would satisfy them between days.

Hohenheim suspected he wasn't getting the whole story, but then again, this was his son he was talking about. He knew Ed rarely liked to talk deeply with him on many things, and he'd come to accept it. True, he wished Ed would let him into his little world a bit more, but he only had himself to blame, raising the kids to be independent and strong.

The mood at the table seemed a bit lighter after that, since Ed was mentally chuckling at himself for being so stubborn, and both Al and their father were just generally cheerful for the company. The meal was enjoyed in silence for a bit, with a few well-received compliments on the food for Al.

"Oh, forgive my asking, but what happened to the bathroom mirror upstairs?"

Both sons froze.

**

* * *

**

Luna Edo

Golden eyes regarded him as Ed looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. The cracks snaked all over the pane, and there were many pieces missing (and some still falling out). Usually he kept to the opposite side of the majority of the damage, so he could see better. This time however he just regarded himself, not bothering to keep to one side and staring at his reflection; broken a hundred times over.

He sighed deeply and put his toothbrush back in the cup. He hadn't realized he'd been holding it after use. He took a step back from the sink and raised his hands, trailing those same, sad eyes down his arms and as far over his shoulder as he could manage.

Some were still reddish. Others were pink, fading, memories escaping to leave no physical trace. He allowed himself a small smile, not one that you could see, but a small smile in his mind. He'd been told that some of the scars may be permanent, but it didn't look as if any of them would be on his body much longer.

He didn't like looking at them; it brought back some small part of the scene to his mind. But he felt better knowing they'd be gone soon.

With very little sound, Ed left the washroom with nothing but his boxers on and said goodnight to Al as he passed the younger teen's room. He pushed his door open with the tips of his fingers, glancing at the still-broken knob area. The metal had been removed entirely, but they couldn't do much about the door itself or the frame. He'd have to ask his father to fix it while he was here.

'The mirror too...' Ed thought guiltily. Neither he nor Al had given a proper explanation for the glass, but thankfully their father didn't pry much when he figured he was treading on sensitive territory.

The blond slipped into bed, rather liking the coolness of the sheets but...

'But.. missing, he's still missing..'

Who knew what would have become of him had Envy not been there. He remembered. The pain, the fog, the helplessness of not being able to do anything. But there was that burning need, a need powerful enough to drive him and let him keep going. 'I need you..'

He'd figured out the answer to many questions over time. He knew he'd never fully understand why he needed the wild teen so much, but then again, one doesn't need reasons with love.

'What a sap.. He'd chide me if he heard me now...' Ed smiled to himself. He was on his side, one arm over the blankets shielding him, and the other out flat on the bed. He couldn't seem to move his gaze from the tips of his fingers. Fingers that, around this time, would softly touch at a face that did not belong to him.

But that face was missing.

Another weary sigh and Ed shifted heavily onto his back, putting his hands behind his head. His fingers unconsciously sank into his hair.

He could see Envy's sleeping face clearly, he'd watch it often, and he'd fall asleep to Envy's breaths while watching that face. Forever letting the image ingrain in his mind. Envy's face was lighter, less stressed or happy or playful or anything when he slept. It was like he became a blank slate, completely pure.

A soft chuckle blended in with the soft sounds of the night as the irony occurred to him. 'Pure indeed.' His smile remained. Envy was the self-assurance, the strength, and the loud disruption in his carefully-planned life. It was like Envy and he were fighting a current, together. He felt it was funny to _want_ to fight a current.

_'But you're still missing.'_

Ed closed his brilliant eyes, missing. Missing the smell (_but I can still imagine)_, missing the heat (_the blankets don't comfort)_, missing the contact (_my hand is not yours)_, missing missing missing..

He wrapped his arms around himself, no longer allowing thoughts to depress him further.

_Falling Asleep Missing You._

**

* * *

**

Luna Alu

Al lay in bed with his arms wide apart, his blanket lying gently around his chest, revealing pajama tops. His eyes were closed but he wasn't sleeping. His face didn't seem to want to take on a particular expression, so it seemed to have a few mixed in.

'Niisan, I don't know if you realize it yet... But I'm losing you.'

The myriad of expressions became a uniformed look of one who was sad and longing. The young teen turned his head to look at one of his hands, curled and showing off his short nails to his unhappy gaze.

'I know I sound selfish.. I know it seems like I want to take away what's making you happy, but.. But when you call his name out at night... Searching for him because he isn't there... I...'

He slowly wiggled his fingers, watching as the moonlight from his window painted the tiniest of dots of lights on his nails. It wasn't a gesture that was supposed to mean anything, and sometimes.. He felt like he was becoming just like that gesture to his brother.

'I don't want to be useless to you brother... I want you to need me too...'

_'But when you call his name out at night... Searching for him because he isn't there... I...' _

'He is your stability... But before, you didn't need that... It's been a long time since we were inseparable, but, still you treat me so kindly, and you even want to find a way to let me walk... You haven't given up, but.. Maybe I'm more jealous of Envy getting your attention than I thought...'

Al felt like he was acting spoiled, and it hurt him to think that he would be told such a thing. That's why he mostly kept this particular issue to himself. He liked to be as open with his brother as possible, but ever since Envy burst into his brother's life, and everything that happened... _I feel like I'm drifting even more._

A sigh. 'But he's stronger than me. He could help you where I couldn't. It's because of him that you became hurt but.. It's also because of him that you're so happy.. right?'

_'But when you call his name out at night... Searching for him because he isn't there... I...' _

'Maybe I'll understand why you're alright with drifting from me if I ever find someone I love... like you love.. him...' He closed his eyes once more and breathed in the night air deeply. 'Maybe it's not right for brothers to be so close. I know you love me but... Your attention... It's elsewhere now.'

The blond smiled to himself after a pause in his thoughts. 'My friends... I cherish them, and they cherish me. Father... He loves us so much, and you.. Niisan, I love you and you me... Maybe I _am_ being too selfish...'

The boy fell asleep with a new expression, one without sadness or satisfaction. His arms remained straight out, as if he was waiting in his sleep for someone to embrace.

_'But when you call his name out at night... Searching for him because he isn't there... I...' _

_'I wish you'd call me instead. So we could go back... back when we were kids... When the world was so much smaller...'_

**

* * *

**

Luna Envy

Many stars away, there was a third teen pressing over problems. Math problems.

"Formula... Formula... What's the damn formula..." With a full set of nails digging into his scalp (a pain that he was unconsciously aware of but not consciously aware he was causing), Envy pressed over the huge stir-fry of jumbled numbers, letters, and weird little symbols that was his math booklet. Marcus had given up long ago, face down on Envy's bed and fast asleep, probably to wake up with the imprints of the calculator his face was mashed against.

Envy, for one, was getting sick of all the detentions he kept racking up. Each one meant another time he couldn't drive Ed home. Marco had said that anyone who fails his test would get said dreaded punishment, and Envy felt obligated to at least scratch a pass for the sake of not having to do the test over again.

"Shoulda done it in class... Coulda roped Edo into helping me do it..."

"Mmph?"

Envy adverted his eyes to the half-asleep teen on his bed. His head was raised in question, and he did indeed have the perfect imprint of a calculator on his face.

"Not talking to you, go back to sleep." He said curtly, looking back at his paper. He wished his desk lamp was brighter, but it was a good lamp and it was merely the bulb going out. The small sound of the other teen going limp again was heard, and Envy paid his friend no more thought.

With numbers and the general hogwash filling his head, he eventually started going cross-eyed and his thoughts slipped away to a certain chibi before he realized it.

'Mou.. I want to hear that husky voice again...' He stuck his bottom lip out in an immature pout. Earlier when he and Ed had 'tangoed' as Marcus had put it, Ed had taken on his role of 'aggressive uke' more, well, _stimulatingly_ than he usually did during their time together. It was only his second time actually having sex, but the blond had played up every trick he'd somehow learned since having Envy as his lover.

His eyes lost some of their luster and his hand came down from his scalp to support his head instead. Just the thought of the chibi, _any thought_, seemed to relax him. Ed's presence really was a calming sort of force to him, even if his actions didn't seem very relaxed. Having the blond around seemed to make his world.. _smaller, _somehow, less complex and confusing.

Eventually, his arms folded and Envy rested his head against them after they joined with the surface of his desk. 'I wish I could have at least given him a goodnight kiss.' A small smirk played on his face, since it was actually his little secret that he did indeed give such cute gestures to the chibi. It was nothing more then slowly pushing his bangs away and a soft brush of his lips to his lover's forehead, but Ed was always asleep when Envy did it. He didn't know entirely why he kept it a secret, but he just did.

'Can't wait for this whole computer thing to happen, least I can catch you before you go to bed.' Not one to like the phone much, since it was usually for a bad reason with him, he was already fidgety with calling his lover (not to mention calling every night seemed a little over-ambitious). But when one added the fact that he might get stuck 'chatting' with the brother or the father... eehhh...

In any case, he nodded off on top of the very math booklet that he had failed to finish, with optimistic thoughts of the computer being able to generate more time with his lover.

Knowing full-well deep down that it was not a plan he could accept for long.

**

* * *

**

Gravity of Love - Act 2 - Tuesday

**

* * *

**

Tuesday Morning - Havoc's Class - 9:45am

Marcus had previously been half-asleep during most of the period. Havoc's papers for the class that were supposed to continue the current unit had "mysteriously" gone missing, and his usual "Emergency Stall Problems Sheet" didn't work this time since most of the class was well-aware of the situation. The booklets handed out to be completed were mostly ignored.

There was barely fifteen minutes left of class time, and pretty much every student was either talking, sleeping, or finding some other means of amusing themselves. Havoc had given up a while ago on trying to get the class to do the booklets, and just continued to try and find his missing work without the hassle of spotting people who weren't working. If one _knew_ the students weren't working, it saved a great deal of fretting.

Marcus took out his cell-phone and searched for a number in the saved list. Finding the one he was looking for, he selected it and put the tiny machine to his ear. After a moment, the other line jumped to life.

"Yo Envy. I guess you ended up reeling him into your skipping habit after all, huh?" He said slyly. Ed hadn't shown up for class, and at first Marcus thought he was merely late, but as time went by it was obvious that it wasn't the case. Envy had, the previous night, declared his absence for the next day, so the tall teen had figured that maybe the short blond had been pressured into skipping as well in favor of a nicer way to spend his time.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Well. That wasn't the silky, knowing answer he was expecting.

"Ed, man, did you make his skip school? He's not here in first period." He'd called out of sheer boredom, not concern, hell, he thought the two would be sucking face at this point if anything.

"I didn't make him do shit, you say he's not there? Huh... Wonder where my chibi's wandered off to..." The voice sounded carefree enough from the other end, but Marcus had known the teen long enough to hear some suspicion.

"Give the house a call, you never know; maybe he's sick or something." He suggested. A short "mmm" was all he got as a response, and the two hung up shortly after.

-0-

Envy was sprawled out on the couch holding his cordless phone to his ear, waiting for the ringing to stop. He wasn't held long, and the sound of the other end's phone being picked up was his signal to speak.

"Hey, is this Edo?"

"No, Envy, this is his father. Edward is at school, where you should be I imagine." The voice was firm, but not in any way unfriendly. But the message was the important thing. _Ed wasn't at home._

"You sure? Friend of mine just said he missed first period. He thought I'd made him skip or something." Envy glanced at his nails in an attempt to appear nonchalant even though the older man couldn't see him anyways.

"Well, Edward is not here; I personally drove him to school. I don't see why he would not be present at his class. Seeing as you don't seem too encumbered by your studies, would you mind finding out where he is please?"

Envy noticed that one of his short nails was splitting under the pressure he was applying to it. So much for nonchalant. "Yeah, I'll go out and have a look."

"That's very responsible of you Envy. Please give me a call if you need to."

"Alright. Bye."

The teen hung up and went to go change into something more suitable for the cooler weather. A pair of heavy black pants and a black sweater over bohemian long-sleeve found their way to him soon enough.

While changing, he remembered to tuck the dragon pendant-alarm under his shirt.

**

* * *

**

The whole drive to school was accompanied by Envy mulling over his protective streak. Maybe Ed had just gone and jacked off in the washroom, and not considered the last bit of class to be important enough to attend. Why should he make such a big deal out of it?

With a curt swerve and rather uncharacteristically neat driving, Envy sweatdropped when he realized that those were _his_ sort of thoughts, not Edo's at _all._

He couldn't help but feel a _little_ unnerved. It had been almost exactly a month since Ed had been raped. He narrowed his eyes as he increased his speed unconsciously.

Envy was pretty sure Greed would wait about two months before making his move, _and_, though he didn't like to believe in it, the search for the man was becoming frantic. He'd seen on the news the other day that he'd become one of the top-priority criminals, seeing as there were accusations beginning to fly about as to possible help Greed may have had in collecting the sheer amount of drugs he'd hidden in Japan.

'That was probably the plan, wasn't it you bastard? Get a shitload of drugs and pile them all in Japan, then watch as nothing short of a war breaks out over it. While you're here anyways, grab me too, huh? Fucking bastard..'

By the time he'd parked his vehicle in the school parking lot, he was all tense and agitated, hating the idea of the vile man acting ahead of the time he'd predicted. Envy wanted more peace before he'd have to deal with the horrible demon of a man.

On the second floor after roughly a half-hour of searching the first floor and around the school, he was stalking through the hallway, heading for the bathroom. You never know...

The same, pale lockers flashed by him as he picked up his pace, his footsteps echoing and making more noise then he would have liked. He was tempted to rub his arms to ward off the chill (the heaters had yet to be fixed), but he didn't feel like exerting the energy.

"Freeze."

It wasn't the command that made him stop in his tracks, but the suddenness, the harsh saying of that one word. It was a deep voice, one very experienced in hate and sadism, and Envy felt his blood boil as he turned around slowly.

Standing half-way out of his class door, smirking slightly and easily pictured as holding a gun like he'd walked right out of a spy movie, was Archer. Envy gasped his apparent relief.

"Oh.. It's just you..." Breathing heavily and almost comically, he turned around and went as if to continue his search. A steel-like hand on his shoulder made him stop again. When did he even..

"Yes, indeed, _just me._ Now Mr. Envy, to class with you."

"Dammit, fuck off, I'm busy here!" He snarled, and felt his usual rebellious streak come back full-tilt. But this time, he was ready to back it up with all the fury of a worried boyfriend.

"Woah, World War III much?" Duo mentioned as he tip-toed by. He was headed back to Tech class on the third floor, after his quick trip to the washrooms on the second floor. Go figure that some bozo had flooded the third-floor bathrooms. Again.

"Be on your way, Mr. Maxwell." Archer said icily, and Envy wrenched out of his grip to face the teen.

"Duo, you seen Edo around?" He asked quickly. The teen gave him a funny look and replied with a, "He's in second with Tringham. I was trying to get his attention through the windows between the classes, but he didn't see me I guess." With a shrug at Envy's confused look, he continued before the stiff of a teacher gave him a detention for "Interference" or something stupid like that.

"So he is here..." Envy murmured under his breath.

"_Indeed,_ Mr. Envy. Now, inside before I lose my patience. You have a detention with me as well."

Mumble Mumble Murder Mumble Mumble...

**

* * *

**

Packing up his things, Ed got up from his chair, albeit a little stiffly, and left the math room. He saw Duo come out of the computer room beside his math room, and tried not to flinch as the teen whipped an arm around his shoulders in a friendly gesture.

"Hey, Envy was looking for you earlier, almost had a fight with Archer about it by the looks of it too!" The excitable teen started. Ed half-grinned and looked away a bit. He'd wondered if Envy was going to find out about his absence in first period.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." He said off-handedly, and let the other teen steer them towards the lunchroom.

He severely hoped Envy wouldn't find out about what had happened during first period, and he was quickly trying to come up with some sort of excuse should he be asked. He'd been zoned out most of Tringham's class, and had been pointed out gently by Tringham himself for not paying attention. Even during the trip to the lunchroom (thankfully Duo removed his arm... It hurt...) Ed was coming up blank. He didn't feel any better as well when he could feel a tiny hint of franticness claiming him at the thought of the ruckus that could follow should he be found out...

When the two entered the lunchroom, Ed saw that Marcus had joined Envy at the table he and his lover usually sat at. Duo was aiming for it as well, so the blond figured this was going to be a group lunch. Great, on the last day he'd wanted it to be on..

"Edo! Where were you, Marcus said you skipped first." Envy said, looking agitated. Ed knew the wild teen would suspect something if he'd found out. 'It's not like me.. and besides.. We both have to worry about **that person**...'

Scrambling for an answer as he sat down opposite to Envy and beside Marcus (Duo sat beside Envy and opposite to Marcus), he came up dry and visibly looked like he didn't know what to say.

Envy narrowed his eyes at the blond. What was so important that it had to be kept a secret? He suspected Ed was _afraid_ to tell him, whatever it was, and he couldn't stop the whirlwind suspicions of Greed-related threats.

"Edo."

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. I woke up late."

Envy saw the glance sent at him, probably hope that he'd be sated with the answer. The fuck he was. Ed's father had told him specifically that he'd driven the blond to school. So Ed was _lying._ He figured the blond could tell he was not convinced and his expression promised that he'd get a proper explanation later. Ed stayed silent.

Duo watched the whole quiet exchange and scratched at his scalp awkwardly. "Well, uh, anyone gotta few bucks to spare a guy?" It was a lame way to lighten the tension, but no one credited him for being especially witty when under pressure. (AN: stfu, I **know.**)

"Here, go nuts." Envy said, albeit a little less charitably than he normally would have said it. He fished out a few dollars and handed them to the grateful teen and watched as he jumped up to go buy some lunch. He turned to Ed.

"You getting anything?" He asked, though his tone indicated that he was still miffed about having something kept from him. Ed shrugged and picked up a fry from Envy's plate, nibbling on it half-heartedly.

Duo came back to a tension-filled table once again, but eventually his brilliance kicked in and he had a more-or-less normal setting going after a while. There was a good bit of complaining going on (Duo) about the heater system not working, and he was more than happy to prove it by taking big bites of his hot hamburger and then blowing out so everyone could see his breath (a tiny wisp of white due to the quickly cooling air).

"What about you, Ed, you feel the cold at all?" Marcus asked, turning to the blond. Ed replied with a serene, "I feel it, but I like winter, since snow sports are something I love to do when I'm in snowy areas."

"Ah, that's not good around here, we don't usually get snow." Envy said offhandedly, resting his head in his palm. "Guess we'll have to go to a ski resort as a nice little trip, huh?" Envy grinned when he definitely caught the blonde's attention, and he seemed pretty intrigued by the plan. Envy, of course, had bonus plans set out besides making his lover happy. To stay at a resort meant to be staying in a nice, woodsy-cozy cabin, hands wrapped around a mug of hot-chocolate, fresh out of the showers and damp hair clinging to warm shoulders...

"He's off in la-la land again..." Duo commented as Envy's eyes glazed over with sweet thoughts of certain naked blondes playing behind them.

"Hey, so what sports do you do?" Marcus said, lightly nudging Ed to catch his attention. He himself did a wide range of sports, so he was interested in what the younger teen might excel at.

"I ski and snowboard mostly, and I skate sometimes to relax." Ed replied, taking the last of Envy's fries since he seemed too 'occupied' to notice or care. Duo pointed at him dramatically with a fry of his own and declared; "Kei's having a Christmas party on the 'Eve, so don't you and Envy steal off to ski resorts or whatever during it a'ight? Kei's father has a MASSIVE liquor collection; you don't want to miss it!"

Lightly chiding the teen about BOTH of them being underage, Ed didn't notice Marcus leaning over to inspect his neck, where, and one had to look carefully (hence the taller boy's leaning) there was just the slightest bit of a red mark peeking beyond his white shirt's neckline. Envy's radar seemed to go off with the minor inspection, and he glanced at Marcus, who looked back at him. Ed and Duo were shooting back and forth why or why not it was okay for teens to drink, and Ed didn't notice Marcus' further action as the teen cocked his head slightly towards him with a bit of a worried expression. Envy got the message, Marcus was telling him something was up, and his eyes went back to the burn-mark-like spot on Ed's lower neck.

'Come to think of it... That shirt looks a little... _stretched_ on that side there.. It's hanging sort of low..' Envy's thoughts ran along in his head and he stood up and casually walked around the table to sit beside his boyfriend.

He weaved an arm around Ed's waist, and the blond didn't seem overly moved by this, but he was a little stiff, and was adding more "ums" and "ahs" to his dialog against Duo. So.. What was making him so nervous...

Since Marcus had definitely looked at Ed's neck, Envy knew there was something there. If Ed had been bullied, or worse, if Greed had met up with him...

Anger boiling inside him, Envy abandoned Ed's waist and lifted the hand to the blonde's shoulder to turn him.

"Envy, I'm talking." Ed frowned at his lover and gave him a disapproving look.

"Face me." He said curtly. Ed narrowed his eyes a bit in agitated confusion, but slowly obeyed, seeing as Envy was clearly being far too serious to accept defiance. Duo gave Marcus a questioning look, and the other teen shrugged and stayed quiet.

When Ed was straddling the bench with his hands on his thighs, he asked, "What's this about?" in a rather demanding voice. Envy slipped his hands over the shorter teen's upper arms and they slowly made their way higher, but his gaze never broke Ed's. His blond was acting far too defensive, and he didn't like it one bit when he thought something was being kept from him.

"Envy, what-" He breathed in sharply as Envy's thumb brushed over the mark Marcus had seen, pushing the abnormally stretched material of his shirt down to reveal what looked like a long fabric burn. Gold eyes met violet and the two were locked in speechlessness for a few long seconds.

"Why. Did. You. Miss. Class." Envy snarled, piecing together the fact that someone had grabbed Ed's shirt and most likely very roughly.

Ed, in a surprising burst of anger, pushed Envy away and got up from the table, stalking off in the direction of the door. '_Looks a lot like back then.. When I didn't love you.'_

The words "I'll deal with it." were thrown his way before he exited, but of course, Envy wasn't one to be left behind. He was already halfway to the doors when the blond said his line and left.

Stalking down the hall, Envy called out for him to stop, but Ed only sped up. Envy growled and broke out into a run, not bothering to dodge the few people in the hall since they were the one's dodging **him. **

"Edo! I said **fucking stop!**" Envy yelled, reaching the blond just before he had a chance to go around the corner. He pushed the shorter teen against the wall, not letting him go.

"Envy! Cut it out, let go of me!" Ed raged, and a few nervous glances were thrown their way from random teens hanging around (though noticeably, no one actually left).

"What happened? What is that mark!" White teeth were unconsciously showing in his anger, but Ed wasn't as intimidated of them after actually knowing what their bite was like.

"I won't tell you! Nothing is going to happen if I just keep it to myself, it won't happen again." The blond said angrily, trying to force Envy's hands to release the front of his shirt from their death-grip.

"Something **will** happen! I'M GOING TO GET ANGRY." He shouted. Damn his lover and all his stubbornness! He'd curse the chibi to his face instead of keeping it in his head, but he wanted the blond to do the talking, not himself.

"Stop trying to bully the answer out of me, Envy!"

"Then tell me who did this! Was it **him?**"

"No, it wasn't! It was just.."

"Just What?"

Ed fell silent for a moment, looking away and letting his hands grasp Envy's a little less tightly. He wasn't going to break that grip, he wasn't _able._ Envy waited with all his little patience until Ed finally seemed to decide on spilling just what had gone on.

"Just some guy, before first period, he said that he was beating on me to get back at you for something or other. But he said that if I didn't tell anyone, even you, which doesn't make sense, then he'd never bother me again." Ed seemed to find the floor amazingly interesting, and he refused to raise his gaze.

Ed felt himself grow colder and colder as his very fear was starting to come true. He looked up at Envy when the teen hadn't moved a muscle after the confession, anger rapidly taking over him. The blond breathed in sharply and tried to fight against the impossible.

"Envy, he was just some punk, given your reputation it's inevitable something like this was going to happen! I told you I want to learn self-defense, and when I do, everything will be okay! I-"

"No." Envy locked his vicious eyes on Ed's, and for a moment, he felt exactly like when Envy had fought him in the classroom when he'd first come to the school. Exactly the same. _'I didn't know who you were, and I didn't know what you'd do.'_

"You won't take the hit of my problems. What did the guy look like." He snarled, and Ed hissed as one of the hands keeping him there had at some point dropped and was lifting his shirt.

"Ah.. Envy, I won't let you go after him, this'll just turn into one big mess if-"

"What. Did. He. Look. Like." He cut in, and Ed tried to keep his head as Envy lifted his shirt up to his mid-chest and looked for other wounds. His rage-filled eyes feasted heartily on the wide purple-brown bruise just higher than his stomach, and another on his side.

"Envy-"

"**EDO.**"

Ed shied back a bit at the outburst, but Envy wasn't in the mood to break down and 'say he's sorry'. He was too mad at the fact that someone had hurt HIS blond to actually realize he was actually _bullying_ said blond for so-called revenge.

"... What are you going to do if I tell you?" He waited for a few long breaths, but he wasn't blessed with a response. "... He, looked about your age, I think he had a blue and red jacket on... He was wearing a white cap..."

Images of the punk that Envy had beaten up not once, but _twice_ in the showers over a month ago flashed in his mind, and his face distorted in rage. So, the bastard was still holding a grudge huh...

Ed was released so fast that he barely realized he'd been released. He just caught, "That fucker..." being muttered with sheer hate from Envy's lips, and the older teen was streaking off down the hall with murder in his eyes.

Which is exactly why Ed ran after him, hoping to stop what could be the worst decision of Envy's life.**

* * *

**

**Cat:** T.T  
**Kit:** What now?  
**Cat:** So close.. I was soooo close...  
**Kit:** (sighs) Close to what?  
**Cat:** Making this the longest chapter... It's the THIRD longest chapter...  
**Kit:** Then... Keep going.  
**Cat:** No... I wanna start it in a new chapter, I haven't had a cliffhanger in a while XD  
**Kit:** You're writing your Will I see...  
**Cat: **Yup... (back to madly scribbling down who gets what)  
**Seira:** (reading the rough notes) _OoooOOOOH!_ Look what Cat was gonna put!  
_" put in notes; 'sorry guys for taking so long to update! but if i get too many reviews complaining about it, ill take another two months! mwuhahahahah! ph34r me and the fact that i have a life too!' "  
_**Cat:** (spazzing) **AUGH! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO PUT STUFF LIKE THAT!  
****Kit: **O,o...

Notes2:  
1. In Japan, when one answers the phone, usually the caller takes that as a que to start talking, unlike western-usuals of the caller waiting for the answerer to speak first. That's why Envy spoke first when Hohenheim answered the phone, and Marcus spoke first after Envy picked up _his_ phone.  
2. "Aggressive Uke" credit to Eli-**chan**. (I'm not gonna live past tomorrow for that (whimper))  
3. Thanks for 800 reviews guys! (And... Sixty-thousand hits... (glance glance)(glance glance))

**

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**

Next Time,

Sin High

Chapter 25 - Cruel to be Kind

Letters to Cleo  
Cruel to be kind; In the right measure!  
Cruel to be kind; It's a very good sign!  
Cruel to be kind; Means that I love you,  
Baby! You gotta be Cruel to be Kind!

When Envy finds the guy that hurt Ed, it seems like the blood will fly, but wait! Ed's trying to stop the fight! Envy has to choose between revenge or his boyfriend, let's hope the hot-head will make the right decision.  
Whilst the tempers rise in West Rain High, we take a step off to the east, where we have a long look at Al's school Geranium Academy. In a surprising (and fatefully convenient) twist, Al meets a special girl who just might be the answer to his problems...

Back to the west, far far west, it seems that our lovers are running out of time, because Greed has given the word... And he plans on coming back to Japan before the end of the month... And it's **not** for the winter festivities.

**

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**

R&R!

PS – I did **ZERO** research on the soon-to-be pairing between Al and the "mystery girl". So I have no idea how popular or hated or clichéd or anything it may be. Oh well, hope you all like it anyway, 'cause I'm not changing the plan! XD

Happy Birthday to me... I won't be sixteen... I might get a caaaar... Happy Birthday to me! (Aug 21st, 17-yr-old!Cat coming right at you! WHOOOT!)


	25. Cruel to be Kind

**NOW WITH CH24 RECAP. THANKS ALL YOU EARLY REVIEWERS FOR HELPING ME REALIZE THE ABSCENCE OF ONE!**

* * *

**Cat:** T-T... just... T-T 

**Cat Got: (Thanks for all the birthday gifts everyone!) (Edit-in: Holy Sin! Has it been _that_ long? eck...)**A wheel of my preference of cheese, Chocolate cupcakes with Envy-shaped candles and Vanilla cupcakes with Edo-shaped ones, Watermelon, Charms of Al and Hohenheim, Edo's Virginity (stolen from Envy), Marrige proposal (couldn't tell whether or not you were giving it, so here it is either way XD), Tamagotchi, Aruslym's soul (**Cat: SOULS!**), Some kinky stuff Ed and Envy used, Mini pocket rocket, Happy Birthday cake AND the boys, Convertible Envy/Ed flavored lube (**Cat:** ... O,O), Strawberry/Mango/Orange/Pear/Apple-flavored condoms, Cake with Ed and Envy tied up inside (**Cat: **Once, Chuck Norris ate a whole cake befo-(slapped by Kit) **Kit:** No Chuck Norris jokes!). (For the muses) Digital camera, Magnetic Edo and Envy Plushie, MP3 with Mirai and Returnable Memeories on it!  
(from echoing raidiance:) The belt Envy and Ed were using upstairs, Edo's scratched t-shirt, More unbroken pencils, A TELVISION OF DOM! (**Cat:** The typo made me laugh for about two minutes XD (huggles Dom Television)), (and for the muses) Playstation 2 and wide screen tv with unlimited games (Cat: When I take too long to update T.T)  
(from thoughtless dreamer:) HUGE catnip flavored birthday cake (with 18 candles; one for good luck!), Envy's housecoat that Ed wore, belt that Envy was making use of on Ed, The towels Ed and Envy had on (**Cat:** Oh, I will XD), Voodoo doll of Archer, Catnip flavored pocky, Clips of Ed and Envy from their school talent show performance, How to draw MANGA books, The Art Of Fullmetal Alchemist art book, Green hair dye, Ed's laptop, Al's meter stick (**Cat:** XDD), and Kei's good ol' camera!, (For the muses:) Bouquet of flowers and a muse medal (for Seira!), Muse cupcakes, Tickets to the zoo, Strawberries, Candy, Catnip, A box of flammable substances (for Kit!) (Kit: Oo).  
(from NightPredator:) Stalker type pictures of Ed and Envy from the beginning of their morning to the end of their day, The belt Envy was using on Ed, The sheets Ed and Envy had sex on, Ed and Envy's towels, a truckload full of catnip, Some dirt to make your pet rock feel at home, A pair of Ed and Envy shaped sugar bowls that magically refill themselves, Pictures from a hidden camera in the boys' showers, The feast Al made, A computer manual that Envy will desperately need, A duster to get rid of all the dust on Envy's computer stuff, A side one-shot to this story, A CD with all of your favourite songs on it, A stack of erasers to go with the many unbroken pencils, A black void that can suck up Greed, A party hat, and a vanilla and chocolate Birthday cake!

Notes:  
Dodo-chan: Thanks very much for your reviews! I will say though... During the second one my eye was twitching the whole time I was reading it Oo...  
darkangel36: Well, Greed's not coming back **_just_** yet, we have a few more chappies to go! Thanks for your review!  
arusylm: You getta BIG HUG! ... And a mound of birthday chocolate! XD  
ravemastaj: XD The guy is a random OC, he showed waaaay back in one of the earlier chapters. He's not from the show XD.  
animelovernumber1: Hey, thanks very much for the pictures! I actually didn't have four of them, and I love them to bits! XD (bows) Domo!  
Ekkena: I question my sanity too sometimes.. .. XD Thanks for the review! One comment I'm noticing common amongst readers is that my ANs are entertaining, and here I am revamping the first half of my story, AN-reduction included. Greeeeeeeeeeat... XD  
Lost Alchemist: Your review made my eye twitch. Bonzai for the passionate claim I guess...  
Manipulated Insanity: Ah, this one again XD First off, incest isn't all that new in fics, and it's quite accepted. So even if I was writing it, I'd be perfectly happy with it. Second, Envy being Ed's half-brother is a misconception, since Envy is a Homunculus, and a different person than the one he was created from. The person Envy was created from is technically Ed's half-brother, but Envy is not. Envy isn't Ed's brother any more than Sloth is his mother. And even if he **was** Ed's half-brother, I wouldn't care. (grin). Thanks for your review, and I hope this cleared up the confusion!  
ND: Heh, I don't know much about stitches, I thought 2,000 was an appropriate number XD ... Let's just pretend they're... Really tiny!  
Ja-chan: (I don't remember if this was the name you put yourself under or not in the reviewer box ) Here j00 update you bastard! God, stop reading 24 over and over, you made me feel guilty when you said that the other day XD. Read the fic fool! (hugs) (PS - I know it didn't look like it, but I was laughing really hard in my head when you fangirled over how "casually I cracked that whip". Lawls. XD) See ya at schools man. XD  
Reiuki2: XD Awwwww! I feel so... Happy! I hope your party was fun! ... I will always make sure to eat a cupcake on October 8 from now on... XD Here's your chappie, and ENJOY!  
1. Revamp of the story is under way, when I've finished up to about chapter 12ish, I'll be uploading the new-and-improved (somewhat) Sin High!  
2. Everybody give **_ELI_** a big huge hug! XD She made me a graphic and we're sharing it with you guys! It's a beautiful piccie starring Envy, Pride, and Movie!Ed. Hug Eli everyone! (www(dot)expxe(dot)com(slash)EPE(dot)jpg)  
3. Here's a cute little picture of ExE symbolism by Harvest Angel, go give it a looksie! (http(colonslashslash)www(dot)expxe(dot)com(slash)EXE(dot)JPG)  
4. Sorry for the update pause, school sucks... But If things go my way, I'm ending this ficcie at chapter 30. No fears, they will be LONG, longer than what we've seen so far, and they will be moving a lot quicker than most of what I've done so far. I have less than ten major events left, and five chappies should do it. I hope. Consequently... There will most likely be very long pauses between, but I hope you guys don't mind it too much! Enjoy the chappie!

**Cat: **You one of the things that halted this chapter... I got hit with a HaoxYoh obsession a bit back... _Shaman King_ of **all** things. I hope it's just a phase.. T-T  
**Kit:** (mocking and sarcastic) But they're so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute...  
**Cat:** I know! And Yoh is so adorable and Hao's so sexy and they're so _perfectly_ soft-core and-... _Heeeeeyyyy  
_**Kit:** (grins)  
**Cat:** You're... Evil...

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Sin High 

Chapter 25 - Cruel to be Kind - Act 1 (_Song)_

Letters to Cleo

Cruel to be kind; In the right measure.  
Cruel to be kind; It's a very good sign.  
Cruel to be kind; Means that I love you,  
Baby! You gotta be Cruel to be Kind!

* * *

**DUE TO THE CONFUSION OVER WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW IN THE STORY (No doubt the result of my insanely long update pause) THERE IS NOW A RECAP. HURRAH.**

_When a punk kid beats Ed up for revenge on Envy (Chapter 24), the wild teen is off on a murder spree for revenge of his own._

"... What are you going to do if I tell you?" He waited for a few long breaths, but he wasn't blessed with a response. "... He, looked about your age, I think he had a blue and red jacket on... He was wearing a white cap..."

Images of the punk that Envy had beaten up not once, but _twice_ in the showers over a month ago flashed in his mind, and his face distorted in rage. So, the bastard was still holding a grudge huh...

Ed was released so fast that he barely realized he'd been released. He just caught, "That fucker..." being muttered with sheer hate from Envy's lips, and the older teen was streaking off down the hall with murder in his eyes.

Which is exactly why Ed ran after him, hoping to stop what could be the worst decision of Envy's life.

* * *

November 6th - Lunchtime - West Rain 1st Floor Hallway 

-0-

Hate and malice raced through his mind with the same sort of effect lava did when rushing out of a volcano. It burned up everything in its way, and left only destruction in its wake. At this rate, the wild teen's common sense would be gone long before he found his victim, and it was one of the few things that could have saved the unknowing bully from a horrible bloody death.

Through his reddening gaze, Envy caught sight of someone he recognized, but didn't actually know. Unlike the rest of the people in the halls, the poor guy didn't get out of the way fast enough, and before he knew it, there was a steel-like hand clamped on the front of his shirt.

"**Where is Davidson?"** He snarled, eyes narrowed and nose wrinkled in his fury. If the guy had any loyalty to Envy's victim at all, it was completely forgotten in his attempt to save his own skin. He babbled fearfully about the named teen being somewhere outside gambling with his group of friends, and it was all Envy needed to know. Dropping the boy, he dashed off to continue his hunt.

-0-0-0-0-

He'd made a wrong turn at one hall, but he quickly got back on track after circling back and following the path of panic Envy was causing.

Ed rounded another corner and glanced quickly at the dozens of teenagers chattering excitedly or just making their way in the opposite direction the blond was going, trying to put themselves out of harm's way.

'Damn this hurts...' He thought angrily to himself, holding his throbbing midsection. He was starting to run like a limp because of the pain the strained muscles were trying to portray. He didn't care. He had to reach Envy before it was too late...

Sure, he was angry at that guy for beating him up, but he'd long ago prepared himself for abuse over his choice in partners. He even spent many nights (those ones where he was all alone) getting himself ready for the inevitable encounter he and Envy would have with Greed. He planned on just leaving this incident behind him, since the bully did seem like he'd vented his revenge and would leave him alone, but now that Envy had found out...

It was a whole new ballgame.

If Envy were to seriously injure that boy, or worse, kill him, there was no way he wouldn't be put in jail. He was already bad news to the police, and Ed knew that if the topics of Greed were brought up and associated with him, he'd be thrown in bars "for his own safely". Or at least some 'behaviour correctional facility'.

If there was one thing Ed was not going to let happen, it was allow Envy to have himself taken away and break their promise to each other. Maybe Envy would wait for him in jail, but Ed wouldn't be able to take the absence.

So he ran with all energy he could muster.

Every minute that ticked by seemed like an hour, but he caught a break when a bunch of people crowded at a window were jostling and pushing each other, trying to get a better look at the fight going on just beyond the protective walls. Ed rushed for the door.

Flying out into the chilly air, he swung around the building's corner and made for the storage shed placed closely to the wall a bit further down. Ed could see the edges of the fight going on just on the other side of the tiny structure.

"-YOU FUCKING TOUCH HIM AGAIN-" The pure rage deforming his face was enough to make Ed stumble for a second and stare, the booming yelling of his lover's words echoing in his head. Envy was screaming so loudly at the bloody teen in his fist it was a wonder the guy wasn't deaf. Or maybe he was, who knew?

Three guys were lying against the foot of the shed or on the ground, having taken a hit that was too much for them. Any other guys that had been there had already run off. The fourth guy there was up, but only because Envy was gripping him by his short brown hair.

"Guy, let go... please, I won't-" The teenager was bloodied up bad, nose gushing and one eye swollen shut. His shirt was torn and where it was hanging low, Ed could see large bruises.

"You're damn right you won't do anything! You're not going to be **CAPABLE** when I'm through with you!" He was spitting on the teen in his rage, and he pulled his fist back to land yet another blow. Every kick, every hit, every bit of pain he caused was being forced upon this teenager just as Envy would have forced upon Greed if he were able. Richard Davidson (made up name, coincidences apologized for) was taking the full fury of four years of pent up hatred, and the further fury of the pain a certain horrified blond had been forced to endure, and another felt entirely responsible for.

"Envy stop it! STOP! You can't do this!" Envy only seemed to get madder as his short lover grabbed the fabric of his black sweater and tried to pry him away from his living punching bag.

"Edo, get OFF. I'm making sure this FUCKER never does this again!" He raged, and tried to shake Ed off his shoulder. All he wanted was to beat this teen as far as his anger allowed him to. However far that may be.

Ed threw his arms around Envy's waist, a desperate attempt to try and consolidate him, but Envy was too far gone to be contained.

"Edo! Fuck off! NO ONE treats you like he did! LET ME PUNISH HIM!" He reached down and clamped his free hand over one of Ed's, trying to remove it best he could without dropping his victim. Ed kept his grip so stiffly, even he wasn't sure if the joints had accidentally locked. Either way, Envy couldn't get him free, but his bloodlust kept him from even considering the fact that he may be hurting his shorter lover.

"EDO LET GO!" He screamed furiously, locking eyes with the bleeding bully in his grip, and trying to convey his message that he _wasn't through with him yet._

'Why won't he listen to me... Why can't he let it go... Why didn't I try harder to prevent this'-

**"WHY IS THIS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU!"**

He didn't know what he was doing, Envy didn't know what he was doing. Ed felt like the anger had just flowed into him. He couldn't defend himself against people, he'd even been _raped_ because of it. He couldn't defend other people from his boyfriend, and it was _his_ fault this teenager was being beaten. It was like every doubt had just suddenly banded together and decided to strike him down there and then, because before even he knew he was screaming, he knew he couldn't take it anymore.

Whether the words hit his ears first or the punch to his back, Envy was winded just a bit and his head ringing with the voice of a certain fleeing blond. Breathing a deep breath, and still confused as to what had happened, he turned (dropping the silent teen) and watched Ed run off towards the fence and the sidewalk beyond it. There was probably a small bruise forming just under his left shoulder blade where Ed had punched him, but it had gotten its point across.

His vengeful side was still smoldering and ready to spark up again with the lightest of provocations. But even he didn't even have to turn around to see the sniveling coward on the ground, silent as can be and very much aware of the tyranny that could continue should he speak.

If one would compare the situation to one Envy was more familiar with, they would say the wild teen was half-way through being seduced by the broken teen on the ground. His own need to write a wrong that should never have been written was like a light wine, but it was enough to coerce him into the ever-sneaky trap of so-called justice. He was still locked in the urge to satisfy the seduce, and beat one Richard Davidson past all reason and recovery.

But the image of one Edward Elric, running as fast as he could with a battered body and his reason in shambles, was stronger. Pulling him away from the seduction of his own rage and forcing him to make the more important decision. The one he had only up until now, ignored.

The small but growing audience both breathed a sigh of relief and a groan of disappointment when Envy took a few steps towards the fences himself, and with almost no transition between the two, he was off like a shot. Maybe for redemption, maybe for rejection.

Many of the leaves on the trees were beginning to turn fire colours, but few had actually ventured from their branches. The yellows, reds, and greens swirled around like a circling dragon, leaving him dizzy. The grays of the street and buildings seemed constant in contrast, and the whooshing objects racing by that could only have been cars was making him sick.

By now, he should have had a decent handle on his slightly damaged body, but the mental ordeal of trying to cope with his lover's rage just sent him over the edge again. Right after Davidson had left him post-beating, he'd gone through a good twenty minutes trying to come to terms and not throw up. Now, he felt like he'd have to go through that all over again.

No sooner had he come to the thought with a little dread, when two lithe arms began to circle him, but it didn't take a genius like Ed to know who it was.

"Stop it." He swung around to meet Envy's eyes, but his command died under the forceful embrace. "Stop it Envy!"

The green-haired teen wasn't saying anything, he had latched his arms around Ed's shoulders and hiding his face from the blonde's view, and even the defiant pushing of his muscled mid-section did not sway him.

"Envy _stop it_! ... Just stop it..." Ed choked on his words, and dared not try to say anything more. All forbid, he was going to break down into tears again. How soft. He half-heartedly continued to struggle in attempts out of the older male's embrace, but in the end he just had the energy to grip the stomach of Envy's sweater and stand there. From the road and the many passing cars, they could have seemed like they'd be locked together for an eternity, for all the rushing world could have seen.

Each 'whoosh' meant another passing vehicle, and each one had a strangely unique sound to it, if one listened close enough. Like every shaking breath his little blond took, each one had it's own story behind it. It was amazing how, _surreal,_ a mindset one could take over when waiting for something crucial. And Envy was thinking surrealistically because, not one to believe in gods, he was wishing upon every one of them.

" ... I'm going to learn Self-defense."

"Alright." It was hard for him to admit that it was for the best, he _wanted_ to be there always to protect his boyfriend, but he just _couldn't._ And he was thankful. More thankful than he would have admitted at the time. He was angry, in his own way, but he'd been forgiven. That was all that mattered.

A small breeze kissed the skin lower than his neck, and he noticed but did not take any heed to his gradually lowering sweater-neckline. He didn't care if Ed stretched the fabric with the weight his arms were burdening it with, but he did care to inquire as to his possible position at the moment.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Yes. And I want us to cool off for a while."

As if the words themselves were cool, Envy tightened his arms just in the slightest. Ed was leaning his forehead against his shoulder, and didn't seem very motivated to move. They both knew they needed distance right now, but it seemed like it was only further than they had already.

* * *

No one had squealed, or at least.. Not yet. 

Envy lounged in Marco's class, doodling in the margin of the promised math test that he was doing horribly on. Truth be told, he had actually studied somewhat. However thoughts on the earlier episode, and further attempts to block said thoughts after fifty-agonizing minutes of it were more or less keeping him from doing any sort of number-and-or-letter crunching.

Who the hell thought of putting letters in math anyways?

So, there sat Envy, trying not to look at his lover who had been determined to finish the school day. Off at his own desk, so close and yet so far...

He slouched even further into his chair and dropped his dulling pencil, abandoning his poor attempt at some sort of doodled animal. Or a real good attempt at abstract. He was about to close his eyes when a small paper ball tapped his desktop light as a.. well, ball of paper. He let his head swing to the side lazily to see (at a skewered angle) Marcus sitting a couple desks down and indicating for him to read the note.

Turning back to the ball, he took it in his hands and unfurled it, reading the untidy printing.

_what happened with you and Ed? i keep hearing about a fight or something_

Envy rolled his eyes and answered the question with a question of his own. He didn't care to get into the squabble right now.

Catching the less-than perfect throw, Marcus looked at the response that merely asked how he'd made up with his previous girlfriend when he made her mad. Any moron could put two and two together as to the significance of the question, and Marcus decided to hand out some well-experienced advice.

Catching the ball and glaring at Marco who looked his way disapprovingly, as if daring the teacher to interfere, he opened the note and read his possible saving grace.

_you could try taking him out somewhere he likes, or asking him out for a walk. Dont try anything too extravagant, be subtle. dont get flowers or nuthing too, im not expert in guy-romance or nuthing, but even i know he'd get pissed at you for that. just be careful, when me and Winry were still going out, i beat up some guy for badmouthing her and we got into a fight over it. that's why we broke up, so just play cool and give him space. gl_

To the horror of half the class, Envy's head hit his desk with a sound "BAM" in a half-faint.

* * *

Chapter 25 - Cruel to be Kind - Act 2 _(Al's Rough Beginning)_

* * *

(I've never even _read_ a fic with this pairing, and now I'm writing it on the side? Oi…) 

Back at 9:00am that same day, it is a beautiful, but crisp, autumn morning. Riding along in the wheel-trans bus is Alphonse Elric, off to have yet another fun day at school. Oh, he doesn't know _why_ today will be fun, but he just assumes it will be. Every day is fun when you look towards it with a smile!

So, turn back the clocks to November 6th's morning, where Al is about to have one of those days.

You know, the kind of day that changes your entire life.

-0-

Chattering excitedly, Al was the soul of the definition of cheerful. He made an effort to speak with everyone on the bus close enough to hear at least once, and he generally lifted the mood. Had the whole group of kids on the bus not been strapped to seats which were, in turn, strapped to the bus, there would have been much more movement and general excited nonsense.

Many of the kids on the bus were younger than Al, and his school was small, but it hosted these kids and younger all the way up to his grade and past. With less than two hundred students with disabilities, the private school was small and well-funded enough to take on such a range of kids with ease.

It wasn't until the bus passed the small houses, and the small park and the small schoolyard, that it came to a stop. With a small cloud of dust waking up after its small tires along the small ashfault road. (**Cat**: I'll stop now.)

There were a number of people in the front, waiting with smiles to assist the students off the buses. There was still a good twenty minutes before class started, but it was their job to stand outside and help their students out.

Not needing any assistance himself, Al waited until everyone else was off the bus and then wheeled off himself. He decided to go for a "walk" before class started, not unusual for him, and wheeled himself along the conveniently smooth and sturdy black ashfault road.

-0-

"Come on _baby_, 'sa not like ya got anythin' else to do, right?"

A greasy-looking guy with equally greasy-looking hair leaned against the high light-brown fence that melted into some bushes. They were just on the outskirts of a school, and none of them happened to go there.

"Anything else is better time spent than you, asshole, so _fuck off_."

Close to the first greasy guy was two more greasy guys, all huddled in a tight ring around a fourth, non-greasy-looking figure.

"Ooh, smart mouth... Ya should use it fo' other things chickie, not flapping out you smart-talk." (**Cat:** Okay, it's official, I can't speak Urban. )

The guy raised his hand as if to secure it to the surrounded girl's shoulder, but she slapped it away. Her posture was slowly and unconsciously slipping into one more defensive, rather than the uncaring one she was trying to put out.

In a flash of movement, the action and reaction repeated themselves, but faster, and with a bit more ferocity. The other two guys huddled close by looked as if they were ready to jump in at any time, but something none of them expected happened.

Passer-byers did just that, pass by, probably out of fear of getting involved in what was turning out to be a bad situation for the surrounded girl. Said passer-byers were all walking on by like it was not visible in the first place. But one was not walking, and he did not just pass on by.

"Is there a problem here?"

It was difficult to tell who was the most surprised put of the group. The four teenagers were looking down at one of the kids assumed to be from the school they were close to. Sitting down in a shiny, spiffy-looking wheelchair.

The two guys closest to Al backed up and got closer to the first guy, leaving the girl between them and the cheerfully-smiling teen in the wheelchair. As if they were hiding in some pathetic way.

"Bug off kid, this don't concern you." It was always intriguing to notice the changes people went through when a confrontation or argument suddenly involved a stranger. One shouldn't just rely on their looks or attitude to keep the passing public away, not when there were people like Al around. He was on higher moral ground, and could look people eye-to-eye in that respect.

"I believe it does concern me." One powerful arm wheeled the chair forwards a bit, and the blond sent a reassuring smile to the girl who was more dumbfounded at his sudden appearance than anything. She didn't even have the thought to protest his help.

"I think I see the tell-tale hints of a disagreement here, and I'm pretty good at solving disagreements. At least, I'd like to mediate this conversation since I'm unsure of your ability to restrain yourselves."

With confused looks exchanged between the three guys, it was obvious that their confidence was dwindling. It wasn't until one of the teachers back at the not-so-far-away parking lot called to him that they decided to "deal with" the girl later, before they brought down "a whole school of wheelchair kids on them".

The guys slinked off, back-glancing at the unusually cheerful kid in the shiny metal chair. The girl was completely dumbstruck and kept him trapped in a fully stupefied stare.

Al sighed in relief. "That went surprisingly well." He smiled warmly at the girl, not too much taller than he was (as he was). This seemed to let her slip from her daze, and she shoved her hands into her jean pockets and sunk back into a casual slouch.

"I didn't need your help."

"I know." Still that bright smile. "But I couldn't just pass by."

The person back at the parking lot called him again, and he gave a small wave to the girl before he started to turn around. "Bye bye!"

The sound of tough wheels turning over the sidewalk was in the stead of silence, had there been silence in the first place considering they were right beside a road. Two well-worked arms spun the chair's wheels with ease, and before he got too far, "You're pretty brave for a kid in a wheelchair."

He didn't stop, but somehow the girl knew he was smiling.

* * *

(How many of you already know who the girl is? XD Bet I'm gonna get a lot of mixed response on this one..)

* * *

Al didn't find the cold to be all that uncomfortable; he was quite at home with chillier temperatures. He had a light coat on as well, dark blue over his lighter blue shirt. 

He liked looking at the changing trees and bushes. Even though the amazing display of colours merely signified death, it was beautiful to watch.

The rose smells sweetest when dying, right?

Snapping out of his thoughts, he noticed someone walk towards him. Or more specifically, the bench close to him. He'd been eating his home-packed lunch under the big sturdy tree close to his school. He would have made a similar pack-lunch for his brother, but Ed always declined his offers for them since he "felt childish" when he brought them.

But back to the figure.

He realized as they sat down that it was the girl he'd met just that morning! He took the time to take in her appearance, since he hadn't gotten a good look at her before;

Only a bit taller than he was while sitting down, she had a small, quick-looking stature. She seemed as if she could take off like a shot if she wanted to, and would closer fly than run if her tiny build had anything to say of it. She didn't look fragile however, no not in the least.

She had very full lips, and short blonde hair that streaked back all by itself (one collection of strands that was longer than the rest lay animatedly in front of her face). Her eyes had a sharp shape to them, but they weren't threatening. Not right at the moment anyways. She wore a green, black, and brown camo-coat, and faded blue jeans that frayed at the ends and at every cut.

"Gonna come over and chat or you just gonna oogle all day?"

In the span of four-point-five milliseconds, Al's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he stuttered a bit before rolling his chair along. Despite the grass, the wheel's were made to be able to fit most daily-life terrain. Another of his father's ingenious creations.

"H-hi." He said shyly, and fit himself beside the bench so he was facing her. She slid closer to him and put her chin in her palm.

"You seem quite different than the little hero you made yourself out to be earlier. Why all the shyness, huh?" She had an amused smirk on her face. She was watching Al's reaction intently, and, being as observant as he was, it made him even more nervous.

"W-well, I wasn't trying to be a hero, I just didn't want anyone to get hurt or anything..." He skillfully avoided the question, and if the girl seemed to notice, she didn't point it out.

As if to back up her earlier statement of not needing his assistance, she proudly declared; "I wouldn't have been hurt, if that's what you're getting at. I just didn't want to take them out, any more police bang at my door and the parents'll throw me out."

She smiled, and her eyes showed that same smile, but Al got the impression that her face rarely showed the expression. It made him feel good somehow.

He noticed her eyeing him, like he had just a moment ago, but before he could get flustered again, her next question beat him to it with shock.

"It must take a good bit of strength to move that thing around, huh?" He blinked a few times, and started to nod, but jumped as the girl started forward suddenly and placed her elbow on his armrest. Her small hand stuck straight up into the air, and he could only stare at it rather unintelligently.

"Arm-wrestle." She said simply, the corners of her mouth angling up a bit more as she was clearly having fun. Al was still lost in some sort of multi-coloured Lala land, and he found himself wondering stupidly if he was just looking up at the trees and spinning around oddly fast in his chair. Somewhere through the chaos however, he saw himself raising his hand and resting his own elbow cautiously close to hers.

He was shocked out of his myriad of colours when she grabbed his hand firmly, giving him a determined look. Their arms were creating a thin sort of triangle, connected at the top. He barely had time to flex his arm when she murmured, "Start."

If he hadn't been concentrating on her increasingly force-stressed face, he probably would have found it funny. His arm was moving back so slowly it was barely moving at all. She even gripped his opposite armrest to add more force. Her fingers clasped his hand with a definite strength, but he was just too hardened from years of working out and wheeling himself around to notice their full crush. He managed to ease himself out of his dazed trance and slowly pushed her hand back until they both lay horizontal.

She was staring at him, mouth slightly ajar and past all words. Her arm went limp and was held up only from the support the arm rest gave her elbow, and her hand still caged in Al's gentle but firm grip. His arm was resting half on hers, but there was no accompanying warmth through the thin coats yet.

A moment or two of silence passed through them, and Al started to worry that he'd made her upset. His eyes widened however when that was clearly not the case.

"Damn, you really are strong! Not many people can put **me** down, kid!" She half-laughed to herself, shaking in her mirth and lying awkwardly to the side until Al jerkily unhinged his hand from hers.

She sat up straight, still chuckling, and wiped at her eye a bit with the end of her coat sleeve, as Al scrambled to defend himself and his unusual strength.

"Ah, you see.. Um, I work out a lot with my brother... It's good for the health and all... And I n-need to be able to move my wheelchair... Um.." It seemed his metaphoric floundering was only making her laugh harder, and he blushed as his ears took in the sound. He _knew_ that wasn't something she did often, he didn't know how he knew, but he did none-the-less.

Finally able to control herself, the girl stuck out her hand again, but for a handshake this time.

"Name's Martel. Nice to meet'cha."

Finally back on grounds he was familiar with, Al accepted her hand and shook it professionally, smiling and introducing himself back.

Well off to the side of the school, the two exchanged conversation. They managed to learn a bit about each other, such as Al's new-found knowledge that Martel was close to three years older than him and went to Blue Wall high school, though skipped most of her days. (**Cat:** That makes him fourteen and her over 17, for those who missed it. (grin))

Al had murmured something about skipping being bad for one's future, but had been set back into place when the blonde had poked him lightly on the cheek saying that "he hardly knew her and he was already worrying."

Al blushed at that. He seemed to be doing it a lot around her, and she was quick to point it out.

"O ho, made you blush again!" She pointed to his reddened cheeks and slyly asked, "I wonder what other features you come with.." And with that, she whipped her hand out fast as a bullet and tickled his side skillfully. Predictably, Al started laughing and tried to fend off the enemy hand, and she decided to be merciful.

"Hmm, blushing and laughing, you have good features." She said, running her fingers into her short hair and secretly marveling at herself for her uncharacteristic behaviour.

"I whistle."

Martel blinked.

Al pursed his lips and proved his claim, a musical tune piercing the chilled afternoon air.

A true, true as anything could be, laugh rang out and the girl rested her elbow on his armrest and her chin to her hand.

"You're a real character, aren't you?" Her eyes, a rather vivid olive-green, caught him in an exchanged glance that was both comfortable and exciting.

"I try to bring a smile where I can." And he smiled himself, bringing yet another to the girl's face.

"That's very just of you." And with those final words, she tapped his cheek with the lightest of touches and got up, waving her goodbyes and leaving just as sudden as she had come. The bell signifying the end of the lunch period rang out the moment she left his sight.

* * *

"God, why did I even get myself into this.. " 

Large, heavy tears ran down his face with a torrential force all their own.

"I should have done something else..." His slight murmurings were on deaf ears as the noises of the classroom went on. Students of his age and grade were preparing various dishes for a major Home Ec. assignment, but all Al could do was stand off by himself at his long, empty table and prepare his with nobody but his tears for company.

Beret, a friend of Al's at the table next to his, turned and saw the blonde's tear-streaked face. The boy was staring down at the sharp knife in his hands with a certain restrained amount of dislike.

"Al, you okay?" Beret asked, tilting his head slightly to get a better look. He was making a cake, simple enough for him, and they were supposed to be having a competitive assignment, but he didn't care if the teacher thought he was getting help from Al. He was shocked and his eyes flew wide open as the blonde wailed, "_I'm just too nice sometimes!" _

He shouldn't have chosen a dish that included so many onions.

* * *

Chapter 25 - Cruel to be Kind - Act 3 _(Shadow to the West)_

* * *

_sssshhhkkk_

_ssssshhhhhkkkk_

_ssshhkkk_

_sshk_

_sshhhkkkkkT_

It was always fascinating to him to see his trusty blade pass almost completely unhindered just under the surface of wood. To see the tiny, thin slice of the material separate and fall to the ground lightly and carefree. It was unlike skin, which tended to drop quickly and wetly.

_ssssshhhhkkkkk_

_ssshhhhhkk_

The small blocks of wood started out as figurines, taking on a human-like stature quickly. He was good at whittling after all.

_sssshhhhkkkkT_

_sssshhhkkkkk_

However, despite his supposed expertise, after getting past the basic human shape he seemed to be unable to concentrate properly. The limbs sharpened and disappeared, the heads merged with the rest of the body, and all together became nothing but a formless block of wood once more.

_sssssshhhhhhkkkk_

_ssshhhT_

He wasn't one to give up however, he was particularly good at turning most anything to his advantage after-all. The somewhat smaller chunks of wood then became less-complicated objects. Why, on his table he happened to have a great little variety of things.

There was a rough lizard, with stubby little legs to support it.

There was a small bowl, one of his lesser objects.

There was a pair of wooden sunglasses, he was particularly proud of these.

Amongst the objects were a surprising collection of simple, slim cones. Rounded at the bottom, sharp at the top. They all represented an attempt at a human figure, but wound up as nothing but pointy dead-ends.

_ssssshhhhhhhkkkkk_

_ssshhhhkkk_

He was not going to settle for another dead-end. This bit of wood in his hands was going to be the one he succeeded with. He continued to cut tiny strips away from the middle of the wood, further slimming the waist of the person-like figure.

A knock on the door. Someone entered.

"Sir, we've got a flight ready for you on the 28th. Then we can get you out the next morning."

Nod. A dismissal. He would be returning to Japan shortly. The person left, closing the door.

_sssshhhhkkkk_

_ssshhhkkkkkkkkkk_

Indeed. No more would he have a dead end. This would be the last attempt. It was all he would need. He felt it in his bones.

_ssshhhkkkk_

More strips floated away as an arm perched smugly on a rough, wooden waist took form. He was taking extra care in making sure the strength of those tiny wooden muscles would show. He wanted everything to go perfectly.

_sssshhhhh_**fffttt**t

He gazed at the cut on his thumb, lazy red liquid inching down past his knuckle to drop to the floor.

And everything **_would_** go perfect.

* * *

**Cat**: XD lawl, I wrote this chapter all out of order...  
**Kit: **Indeed. This last past makes me worry.  
**Cat:** You and me both Oo... 

Notes:  
1. Richard Davidson is a made up name, if anyone has this name or similar, sorry, it was pure coincidence! (I feel the need to add this because it seems very likely to be someone's name Oo)  
2. Here's a small dictionary, since I keep getting vocab questions. I thought the fandom was more experienced, but, ah well!  
CH1 - **"-sensei": **It means teacher, and it is an honourific. It's the equivilent to Mr., Mrs/Ms., etc in a school environment. - **Nii-san: **Brother. Duh.  
CH2 -** Koi: **Love, or short for lover. - **Chibi: **Small, short, cute, etc, all the above. Can be considered something like slang at times.  
CH5 - **Wasabi: **It's Green. It's Mushy. It's Evil. Don't Touch It. You'll burn your face off if you eat it.  
CH8 - **Bonzai:** We're just going to leave it at "it's a cheer" and be happy. Damn if I have to explain the whole "thousand-year" thing.  
CH9 - **Baka:** Idiot. Moron. Fool. Stupid. St00pid. Enter Thesaurus.  
CH11 - I am **not** translating the songs here. Go look it up!  
CH13 - By the time I got up to this chapter, I was too busy reading bits and pieces to even notice any possible Japanese used. I can't remember off the top of my head any later lingo used, so the mini-dictionary stops here... Just review in a word if you want it translated. OKAY?

And also **"ne"**, I don't know where I used it first (I was only skimming chapters for Japanese words), but I know it's in there. Ne is merely a word put at the end of a sentence to act like, "Huh?" or "Don't you agree?" or "Right?" Something like that. If I go, "It's cold out, ne?" it's like saying "It's cold out, huh?" Getitgotitgood.  
**-Maa, Naa, various other slangy nonsense words:** Envy's just like that, he says nonsense. It's like saying "heyyyyy..." but... It sounds better XD  
-Just as an extra, you see see some emocons in my ANs sometimes, and here's what they mean if you've never seen them before:  
**XD** - It's a laugh. **Oo** - It's supposed to have an underscore between them, but that's an "odd look." Like when someone asks you if the sky can melt. **T-T** - It's a crying face. It's usually sarcastic XD. **O,O** - It's a shocked look, amongst other things. **:)Z)** - Maniac look, clean and simple.  
3. Look Eli! **HET! **(points at MartelxAl) Miracles DO happen! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

TBC (Though, probably not anytime soon if my pattern has anything to say about it...)

Oo

**Kit: **Flame her, it helps.  
**Cat:** _IT DOES NOT! _**Flames **equals **Emo **equals **Suicide** equals **NO MORE SIN HIGH.  
**And I don't want to be emo. Oo

* * *

(Glances at Review count) Wow... I.. am dangerously close to hitting 1000... People! Don't let me hit 1000! I will have a heart-attack and DIE! 

... And all fingers would probably point to Raito, the sorry bastard.

He needs a hug. That is all it would take to make the guy stop killing people. Just give him a hug.

... Or lock him in a small room with L... That'd be fun to watch. :)Z)

(Edit-in: Oh yeah... I forgot about the cuffs... ST00PID. Ah well... How about a "small room with a jaw-dropping variety of S&M toys"? XDDDD

* * *

**EXTRA (crack) Mini Fic For those who read far enough into my insanely-long ANs to notice it.**

A random crack!clip that only just popped into my head half-way through writing the MartelxAl Act.

Dedicated to all those who love Sin High.

Written out of guilt for taking so long to update Oo

* * *

**Locker Abuse**

There he was.

Bold as any lion, and just as fierce.

The man of his dreams. (A quote quotable just in itself XD)

The halls were empty, and _he _was returning from the bathrooms. Ed even carried the hall pass with a sort of defiant air when the hall monitor had narrowed his eyes at him earlier.

But.. But _Envy… _**HE** was probably wandering around just because he wanted to. _He _didn't need something like a _hall pass._

But Oh! Here in the silent hallways, he trailed behind the object of his desire. That saucy gait, unbreakable attitude, and the sexiest, hardest body he'd ever laid golden eyes on.

Ed had fallen head over heels the second he saw him.

And here in the silent hallways… He trailed. Watching as every muscle under skin-tight clothing moved and grooved.

And then he turned.

"Stare often?"

Ed's eyes flew open and he stopped dead in his tracks, as his very living fantasy glared at him dangerously.

And he did the most dangerous thing.

He blushed.

No sooner had his horror even occurred to him, and he was pushed against the locker.

"You makin' fun of me?"

Ed scrambled for some way out of his personal god's wrath, and shook his head so rapidly that his brains were probably stir-fried by the time the wild teen's fist had embedded itself into the locker right beside his head.

The crash sounded like thunder to his ear (not a few inches away), and it echoed down the hall with the dull roaring of a dying storm.

He knew the older teen was very much into women, so he hadn't said anything. Even if he had been into guys, Ed _still_ couldn't have said anything. He could barely _think_ when near Envy, much less tell him he liked him! (Or fanatically obsessed over him..)

It was no secret that Envy appealed to the women's taste, even going as far as to _appear _somewhat gay. But when the wrong people pointed it out…

Hence his blush, which just stamped the lovely red stamp on his death certificate.

His love, passion, fantasy and dream narrowed his eyes, demanding his words, but Ed knew his fate was sealed.

But if he was going to die, he would die happy.

With precision neither of them knew he possessed, Ed's arms shot up, one around Envy's midriff, the other behind his head. The shorter blond pulled him down and shot up on his tip-toes to crush their mouths together.

Every night's favorite movie was playing out in real life for him, and he aggressively locked every part of his mouth that he could to the older male's. Shock was the only think keeping him still, and Edward Elric fulfilled his life-goal by ravaging those mocking lips, tasting that skillful tongue, and acquainting himself with every tiny crevice.

His fingers were clamped into thick, long hair to the point of his knuckles going white, and he'd long-ago pressed them together and secured the teen's waist to his own.

This was his dream, and it was all lived out, an eternity in the span of a few long seconds.

And as quick as he'd attacked the stunned teen, he sucked on Envy's lower lip for a blissful second, then was racing down the halls to flee form the building. If just to see the sun shining brighter, and the birds chirping more beautifully than before. If only for a few moments.

Envy stared, open-mouthed, at the place where the blonde's head had been just a second before. His eyes slowly trailed over to where his fist was connecting with the locker, sitting in its own tiny crater where the thin metal had given way.

Normally, the human mind has deep, psychological activities going on, multiple activities. Right now, every single activity, ever single function was dead silent.

But one thought pierced through that silence. One, single thought.

_I gotta start punching lockers more often…_

* * *

Happy Halloween from Cat and Kit! XD 


End file.
